A New Life Work in progress
by TheBigPiggy1988
Summary: When Victor Grassin Kasrkin in the Eighth Cadian Shock regiment is retired from his service in the Imperial Guard and dropped on the wrong planet by an astronomical fluke, he must take what help he can from the must unlikely sources possible. just for fun


Alright this is the first thing I have written that I actually wanted people to read, I don't know how to work FanFic, and my limited vocabulary and grasp on grammar leave much to be desired. Constructive criticism is welcome but please be gentile. I was reading Dan Abnetts Eisenhorn a couple weeks back and Mean Girls came on the TV, then I made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (there is a point I'm getting there.) I had reached the part of the book set on Cadia and thought "Wow, these guys are pretty badass" and then I watched Mean Girls and thought "Man, these girls are pretty brutal" and then I ate my sandwich and thought "Who thought to mix peanut butter and jelly?" and then the idea hit that sometimes when you mix two completely opposite things, good stuff happens and what is possibly more opposite then those two things. This is my attempt to make peanut butter and jelly from Mean Girls and Warhammer 40k. Both are owned by people not me, I just threw the two together.

Madness reigned, the world tumbled and a screeching ringing filled Victor's ears. For a moment his eyes refused to open as if they no longer wanted any part of the chaos that surrounded them. Time blurred as slowly the screeching dimmed only to be replaced with deafening gunfire and the tormented screams of the wounded and dying and the patter of dirt and debris falling all around him, his neck ached as he willed his head up to check to make sure the rocket had not added him to the numerous still bodies that lay everywhere. His eyes finally opened with a start and the first thing that he saw was a soldier standing over him, his woods pattern camouflage jacket tattered and stained with mud and his protective flak vest dented and scorched, his helmet missing and his short cropped blonde hair mangled with dirt and sweat, his violet eyes betrayed the horror and desperation of the situation. He was yelling something that Victors reeling mind could not comprehend. He urged his senses and wit to return as he flipped over to stomach and pushed himself up with arms that were all but numb. He glanced to his left and he saw a rifle partially buried in the red dirt, its matted olive drab coating was worn and its silver barrel scratched and blackened from recent use, he saw the silver double headed eagle on its side, it sparked recognition in him, that was HIS rifle, he reached out to grab it but fell on his face. A strong hand grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him up to his knees, he could now see over the crater that the rocket had created. He looked out into a wood line, less than 5 meters from his position an armored vehicle burned, a meter wide ragged hole torn into its turret, a name was associated with the vehicle, Victor tried to recall it but his mind refused to give him anything other than nausea. The soldier that had grabbed him had retrieved the rifle and handed it Victor, the familiar weight and feel of it brought comfort to him, and with that comfort came the memory of who he was, he was Sergeant Victor Saemeter Grassin, a soldier of his majesty the holy god-emperor's armies, the imperial guard, more than that he was a Cadian, a proud warrior, and it was time he started acting like it! His wit and senses restored, he shrugged off the dragging hand and clambered to his feet, still uneasy but filled with purpose he stumbled to cover behind a fallen tree as las and stubber fire kicked dirt and splintered trees all around him. He turned to the guardsmen that had dragged him; he did not recognize him other than by face but knew he was from the same regiment.

The Guardsmen frantically checked Victor over "Are you hurt! Any new holes!"

Proles, that was his name. "Fuck you, Proles"

Proles chuckled and raised his rifle to let loose a crimson laser beam that snapped through the air like projectile that had broken the sound barrier. "HA you had me worried for a moment, can't have you dying on your last battle."

His last battle, Victor had never thought he would live to see the day that he would receive his discharge, for one hundred and thirty one years he had served the god-emperor, from his earliest memories as a young white shield of the Cadian youth militia trained to soldier before he could read or write, to this day. Victor had always lived a guardsmen and he imagined he would die a guardsmen, but he was not just any guardsmen, he was a kasrkin, the cadian equivalent of a storm trooper. He was the elite of Cadias already superior military might and he had been hand selected by none other than the Legendary Colonel Usarker E. Creed to serve in one of the most prestigious regiments of all the imperium, the Eighth Cadian Shock. He commanded a squad of the finest and most lethal men in all of Cadia!

His squad

The realization hit him as hard as the rocket did; he turned his attention back to the scene of carnage that he had barely escaped alive from.

"Throne of Terra...no." he whispered to himself, the bodies of his squad lay strewn about, he saw Branthon, who had once taken on a traitor Astarte's of the World-Eaters in single combat and bested it, in three different pieces. He saw Castiel, who he had known since their time as a whiteshield and considered as much a brother as any blood relative, blackened and burned, they were all his brothers, his brothers in arms, his comrades in service, charges of his command. All of them dead, nine of the best soldiers he had ever had the honor of serving with and he had failed them all. One rocket had taken everything from him. Victor felt his choler rising, his blood was boiling.

These heretics would pay.

He stood up, his face a mask of hate and uncaring of the withering exchange of lasers and bullet projectiles that filled the air around him, there was no room in his mind and heart for anything other than vengeance. He reached behind him and unsheathed his most valued possession. The sound of the tempered and blessed adamantium sliding against its sheath was the focus of his world at that moment; he felt the weight of his power sword and twirled it in his hands. He thumbed the activation rune and the sword hummed to life, small electrical discharges bounced up and down its engraved blades length. Its hilt was solid gold and its hand guard was two outstretched wings. It was a family heirloom passed to him from his father when he was young, it had been in his bloodline for fourteen generations and he had trained daily with it ever since he could lift it. He stared at the heretic lines, less then seventy meters away from the wood line where the imperial advance had stalled lie an intricate and complex series of trenches and defense bunkers, he stared at the unholy blasphemous banner that flew just behind the trenches.

The eight pointed star of chaos.

It would burn.

Proles looked up to Victor and shouted "ARE YOU MAD!"

Victor didn't even hear him with a blood curdling roar of rage that would have made even an Astarte's give pause Victor broke cover and charged.

Those that witnessed the charge would claim that the god-emperor himself had protected Victor from the murderous fire that lashed out to meet him, others claimed he was overtaken by righteous fury and had taken it upon himself to break the stalemate. The lone voice of Proles claimed that he had simply lost his mind. Either way it is explained the sight of the lone charging kasrkin had filled the Imperials hearts with courage and soon after Victor was not alone in his suicidal charge, He did not know it, he was barely aware of the four thousand warriors of the emperor screaming their devotion at his back, all he could focus on was the first heretic he saw.

The traitor to all mankind was a well-muscled brute, at least a head taller than him. He wore the ragged crimson uniform of the blood pact legion. An iron mask shaped into a snarling beast covered his face and his exposed arms were marked with unclean symbols that hurt to look at, but Victor did need to look at them as he leaped into the trench and with a single flick of his wrist, decapitated the arch enemy legionnaire. The traitor's comrades wasted no time in reeling to meet the kasrkin, but he was already amongst them slashing and stabbing with expert swordsmanship until he finally realized where he was.

By this time the rest of the Imperial forces had caught up with him, after taking extraneous casualties during the charge they had finally breeched the forces of chaos defensive lines. Commissars screamed their oaths of duty, father-confessors shouted their oaths of faith, Victor roared his oath of revenge as he sought the quickest path to the chaos star, he wanted to do more than just kill these heretics, he wanted to break their courage, their will, their spirit. He wanted to instill fear in an enemy that used terror as their most common weapon.

He found his short cut through a plascrete bunker; he drew his side arm, a master crafted bolt pistol awarded to him from the adept seniorous of the forge world Oresties. Its gleaming gun-metal casing decorated with the holy aqualia on one side and the cog skull of the mechanicus on the other it had never failed to fire for him and its accuracy was as good as any high precision rifle. He reached the door of the bunker leaving a trail of death and dismemberment behind him and kicked in the door. A dozen figures met his sight and without hesitation, he emptied the 30 round clip of his bolter into them. If you have never seen the effects of a bolter on an unarmored body, count yourself blessed. Blood and gristle covered every inch of the bunkers interior. Victor passed through the bunker giving barely a second thought to the officers that he had just butchered. He was close now the unholy star was almost within reach!

He stepped out of the bunker into another line of trenches, these wider than the ones at the front, a good 10 meters wide at the least, their walls boarded and the floors littered with debris. Warriors instinct caused him to duck as a screeching chainsword passed but a dozen centimeters over his head. Victor rolled forward and spun around to get a look at his assailant, and he was filled with dread. Before him stood a hulking behemoth. It was at least four meters tall, two meters from oversized pauldron to oversized pauldron, its armor was of the darkest black, as if light refused to touch it, unclean glyphs adorned its armor marked in blood, its helm horned with human skulls impaled on them, it snarled and hissed at him. It was a traitor Astarte's, a Night lord. It raised its wailing sword to strike again with impossible speed and dexterity for a creature its size, Victor barely had time to parry it with his own blade, Adamantium met adamantium and sparks sprayed everywhere. He could not match the strength of the vile astartes, he could not win this one not against a warrior that for all he knew had harkened from the time of the Horus heresy. Victor heard a ping from behind it; another guardsman had jumped into the trench and attempted to bayonet the Night Lord. The Night Lord turned and disemboweled the screaming guardsmen on his chainsword lifting him into the air the night lord reached and

ripped the body from the sword without even bothering to withdraw it, the guardsmen was ripped in two with his lower torso falling to the ground and flinging the upper half ten meters further down the trench. One of many gruesome sights that would haunt Victors dreams.

Another of Victors kinsmen slaughtered.

Rage overtook Victor and he pounced on the massive power pack that covered most of the traitors' backside. In one fluid stroke he brought his power sword down on the Night Lords neck piercing through the weaker neck joints and severing its spine. The Night Lord ceased movement at once, it fell to its knees and toppled forward with Victor still clinging on to its back. Victor stood to cheering and applause all around him. He looked up at the lips of the trenches to see his brethren howling at his victory over the despicable traitor marine. His breathing ragged, and his judgment still clouded all he could do was stand there. A commissar approached him his signature red sash and trench coat somehow still immaculate; it was Halwitze, A Praetorian by birth. He looked at the Night Lord and clapped Victors back "Bloody good show chap, bloody good show, the trenches are ours."

The lights were dimmed, it was past taps on the Troopship _Kindle of Faith._ Yet Victor still stood there staring at himself in the mirror in the berthing head. Not but two days had passed since the deaths of his squadmates. An empty bottle of cheap grain liquor in his right hand he could not pull himself away from the mirror. Earlier that day he had led the funeral detail for his squad. It was a mostly private affair, the only attendants being the Colonel, the ship master who Victor suspected was there only out of tradition but still paid his respects, and the two other squads of stormtroopers attached to the regiment. The rites of the honored dead were read, a last salute given, and their names recorded. As the bodies were ejected to the void, Victor pressed his hand against the viewport and hung his head low as he watched the grey coffin-capsules wrapped in the standard of the regiment disappear into the blackness, he had never felt so alone. The colonel, dressed in all his finery, medals honors and accolades covering his uniform, walked up to him but seeing as words would have no meaning at that moment, simply put his hand on his shoulder and said "Get some rest." Despite his respect and love of his colonel, rest would not come. The weight of his failure hung on him like an anchor. So he stood there staring at himself in the mirror. What he had hoped to see even he did not know.

Like all born on Cadia Victor had piercing violet eyes, his left eye was dominated by a scar that ran from just above his eyebrow to down past his cheeks, courtesy of a close call with an Eldar warrior during the battle of the Galaxian Sceptre. His skin was pale and he had jet black hair which he kept shortly trimmed and neat. He appeared to be in his early twenties, but looks were deceptive, as he had been on a youth rejuvenate regimen since he was seventeen. His actual age left most who did not already know slack jawed and wide eyed, one hundred and fourty eight years, imperial standard. One hundred and thirty one of those years spent in the service of the Imperial guard. A long time by any standards to be a frontline soldier.

_Why Me? _Ran through his head over and over again, it was not the first time he had lost men under his command in combat, it was how ever the first time he lost his entire command in a situation that he himself by all accounts should not have survived either. _Why me, why did I live when they did not?_ The question plagued him, it would not let him be. He tried to think of anything he could have done differently to ensure their survival, but nothing could come to mind, there was no predicting the freak rocket attack and there was no time to avoid it. No amount of selfsacrifice would have saved them. It simply happened and there was no changing it. With that thought on his mind, Victor stumbled to his bunk and laid down, he stared at the ceiling until fatigue finally over took him.

It was a magnificent sight to behold. The deepest honor Victor had ever received. The entire Eighth Cadian Shock regiment assembled in the parade hall of the ancient and venerable troopship _Kindle Of Faith. _ The parade hall was a massive space in the four kilometer long ship, built with many purposes in mind, it could be training grounds, it could be muster fields, it could even be a track for testing armoured units. But today, the parade hall held every single soldier of the cadian regiment standing at parade rest in their dress uniforms. At the center of the formation was a stage illuminated by two high wattage search lights suspended from the ceiling and controlled from some unseen observation room. Two great banners were planted on the stage, one the Aqualia and one the regimental standard. Also on this stage stood two figures, Sergeant Victor Saemeter Grassin and Lord Colonel Usarkur E. Creed. Victor stood at attention in his dress uniform. A grey wool suite with black epilates on which the stripes of sergeant were pinned on. On the left side of his chest was a cornucopia of campaign ribbons and awards for valour and dedication, on his right was the holy aqualia. His Non-commissioned officers cap sat firmly on his neatly trimmed head, on his right arm he bore the patch standard of the regiment. On his left just below his ribbon racks a purity seal flapped in an artificial breeze, a prayer of devotion to the all-father of mankind enscribed on it in high gothic, awarded to him for an act of singular daring by a witnessing astartes of the White Scars chapter during the siege of the Doom Spire on Menthile. His trousers like his shirt were gray, save for two blood red stripes that ran down the sides of each leg. Earned in blood, the mark of the kasrkin. The Colonel marched in front of him and Victor snapped a crisp salute which the Colonel returned. After the salutes were dropped the Colonel did an about face and addressed the legion of the regiment. "Today we are gathered to acknowledge the courage of one man who inspired many to commit great feats, Sergeant step forward" Victor took one step forward so that he was standing one pace behind the Colonel "Sergeant Victor Grassin, for you bravery and initiative I hear-by award you the Phoenicians Cross. Your actions not only encouraged your brother soldiers to advance under heavy fire but you also eliminated the enemies command bunker and in an especially impressive show of martial prowess, fell a vile traitor astartes in single combat." The Colonel reached inside his jacket and pulled out a gold gilded blue cross medallion that he pinned to Victors uniform. "Also it has come to my attention that your tour is nearing completion, so it is with great joy that I also present you with this." Once again he reached into his jacket and pulled out a piece of parchment which he handed to Victor. Victor took the parchment and glanced at it with curiosity, it was orders for his honorable discharge. The colonel spoke on "Your outstanding service is at an end. The imperium is a safer and better place thanks to you. The god-emperor is satisfied with your work. May you live the rest of your days in peace, as you have seen enough war. Have you anything to add?" Victor was still flabbergasted at what had just been presented to him, and almost said no but then he took a step forward and said "If I may colonel, a moment for our honored dead." The colonel nodded and once again turned to face the assembled regiment. "The sergeant has asked for a silent prayer in remembrance of those who have laid down their lives for the Emperor." Then the Colonel bowed his head in silent contemplation. As one, ten thousand heads bowed in silent thought, each soldier giving thanks for the sacrifice of others in their own personal way. After a respectable amount of time the Colonel raised his head and turned to face Victor "Sergeant ATTEN-HUT!" Victor Snapped back to attention. The colonel then turned to the regiment and bellowed "EIGHTH ATTEN-HUT!" The parade hall echoed with the sound of ten thousand men snapping their heels together and slapping their fist to their side. Still addressing the regiment the Colonel the then commanded "PRESENT ARMS!" Ten thousand rifles were raised in salute to a comrade who had paid his dues. "Sergeant DISMISSED!" Victor snapped one last salute to his Colonel, did an about face, and exited the stage. The entire regiment erupted into cheer.

Earth

June 12th, 2010

Springfield, California

Heather Mattison stood infront of her new house, a slight breeze blowing her shoulder length red hair into her pale and freckled face, she reached up with slender arms to tie it back and thought to herself _so, this is what suburbia looks like._ She looked around at the neighborhood, every single house looked the same save the color schemes. She had never seen anything like it, having moved here from the sparsely populated farms and ranches of the north east where the nearest town was a twenty minute drive and possessed only one stop light. She had enjoyed the quiet living of small town life and although peers her age were few she had a tight knit circle of close friends that she could always count on. She heard a loud thud come from the moving truck behind her, followed by a string of cursing presumably from her father, Steven.

Her mother stuck her head out the door of the house and yelled in a soft northern accented voice "Watch your mouth Steve, you're supposed to set the example for Matt! Heather would you be dear and help your father and brother out with that god forsaken couch."

To which another heavily northern accented voice called out from the truck "You picked it out Marge I don't want to hear any complaining from you!"

Heather rolled her dark green eyes and trotted up the trucks ramp. Her father and brother were standing on either side of a white clothe couch that was covered in plastic wrap. Her father gave her instructions to help her twelve year old brother lift and after some struggle had manhandled the couch inside where she left her parents bickering over where to put it. She stepped out side and basked in the heat. It was a lot hotter here then back home, she was about to go inside to change out of her working coveralls when she heard pop music and the heavy growl of a sports car engine approaching. She turned to look and saw a pink mustang convertible with its cover on turning the corner. The mustang continued along until it reached her and it halted abruptly. The tinted window rolled down and a pretty brown haired girl wearing oversized novelty sunglasses poked her head out the driver side window.

The brunet looked Heather up and down and squealed "OH MY GOD you must be new here!"

_Duh _popped in Heathers mind but decided that making enemies with the first people to reach out to her was unwise so she threw her thumb over her shoulder to indicate the moving truck "Yup, just moved here from Kansas."

A second head, another girl with blond hair, suddenly appeared next to the first one and asked with a voice that sounded as clueless as question she asked "Kansas! Is _The Wizard of Oz _your' favorite movie!"

"Wha..?" was the only reply that Heather could come up with

The brunet sighed loudly and turned to the blonde "Cassey, what did I tell you about stupid questions like that?"

The blonde cocked her head to the side and replied "To keep them to myself?"

The brunet turned back to Heather "Sorry about that, sometimes her mouth works faster than her brain does, I'm Katherine, what's your name?"

"Heather…"

A third head appeared from the back, pushing Cassey out of the way, Yet another teenaged girl with thin framed glasses and jet black hair that flowed past her shoulders. The girl looked at Heather and said in a condencending voice "There are, like, fifteen Heathers in our class." Katherine rolled her eyes and planted her hand on the dark haired girls face to push her into the back and then snapped "Don't be a know it all, Mira." To which Mira replied "I'm just sayin…"

Katherine shook her head and returned her gaze to Heather. "Sooo how old are you?"

"seventeen, turn eighteen in three weeks."

Katherine cracked a wide smile and squealed out "NO WAY so are we! Maybe you'll be in our class when school starts up!"

Heather groined inwardly at the thought of further interaction with them but politely replied "Oh really? I'll be looking forward to it."

A tune played out from inside the car and Katherine reached down and picked up a cell phone which she studied for a moment and then turned back to Heather "Well we gotta get going, but we'll stop by sometime and properly introduce ourselves! Toodles!"

"I can't wait."

With a roar the mustang took off down the road. Heather sighed and was about to go inside when another voice called out to her

"You gotta watch out for those three."

Heather turned her head to the source, another girl her age with a taller heavy set guy. They were both pushing bicycles into the garage of the house next to hers. The girl had jet black hair like Mira but wore it in pig tails and was wearing black eye liner and dark red lipstick. She had a t-shirt featuring a band that Heather had never heard of and a checkered black and white skirt that went down to her knees. The guy also looked their age and had poofy brown hair and wore a t-shirt with a SPCA logo on it and green cargo shorts.

Heather walked over to the chain linked fence that separated them and before she could ask why she should watch out for them the guy ran up to the fence and shouted out in a voice that was not unlike Casseys "Oh wow Brittney look at that, actual coveralls, where did you get those I want a pair!"

"Ah ah ah! Heel Fred." The girl, Brittney scoffed

"Uh…why should I watch out for those three? They seemed nice…enough."

Brittney chuckled and leaned across the fence "Well lets just say that they can either be your best friends or you worst nightmares either way, you gotta be on your guard with them…but I'm getting ahead of myself, I'm Brittney, this oaf here is Fred, he's harmless enough."

Fred waved "Heeey, that's not fair."

"Whatever, so where did you come from?"

"Kansas, a small town about fifty miles outside Kansas city."

"Ohh a small town girl, that's so quaint." Fred interjected.

"Indeed it is" Brittney added "We got some projects to work on but it was nice meeting you Heather, we'll probably be seeing a lot of each other what with me living here and all so later girl." She then turned and grabbed Fred by the arm sleeve and dragged him into the garage.

Heather stood there for a moment replaying the past five minutes in her mind and trying to digest what just happened. She gave up trying to understand it and walked back into her house. _It's going to be an interesting year_ she thought to herself.

She had no idea.

Victor stood at the door of the administration offices aboard the _Kindle of Faith._ He was officially retired, no longer a guardsmen, no longer a kasrkin, that was a lie, once a guardsmen always a guardsmen he told himself, just because he was no longer a part of the guard did not change who he was, he would remain true to his values, no matter where his retirement led him. This he promised himself.

Victor knocked on the metal hatch to the administrators office. A deep voice answered "Enter"

Victor walked through into an office and looked about, the white bulkheads of the ship were no where to be seen, every inch of the office space was covered in parchments with notes and reminders on them and at least a dozen calendars with various dates circled and commented on. The administrators desk was equally cluttered and in a state of organized chaos of stacks of dataslates and piles of papers. The administrator himself was a middle aged man with prematurely balding hair and a slim wirerly frame covered by the white robes of the Adeptus Munitorium.

Without even looking up the administrator pulled a sheet seemingly at random from a pile at the foot of his desk and asked "Victor Grassin right? Have a seat. Just a few simple things and we'll have you on your way in no time."

The administrator pushed the paper in front of Victor as he sat down "Sign and date at the bottom" He then grabbed a manila folder from underneath his desk and tossed it into Victors lap before Victor could even pick up the pen. "Your discharge orders, interplanetary passport, and pension voucher with a quite generous six percent interest gained per cycle, oh and I'll need your thumb print here."

The administrator pulled another sheet from a corner of his desk and slide a pad of black ink over to Victor. "Ok, heres how this is gonna work, tomorrow at 1300 you will need to have your things packed and be on flight deck C-7. The ship is making translation just long enough to drop you off, don't you feel special."

Victor had just finished finger stamping the form and said "1300, deck C-7 got it" The administrator stood up "Well then that about takes care of it all, and congratulations, you're the first retirement I've had to process in years!"

Victor still had questions "Wait! What planet am I being dropped off on?" The administrator looked at victor quizzically and then clapped his hands together "Hmm lets see…" He hunched over his cognitor on his desk and tapped a long string of keystrokes in. "It's called Valeran II, an agricultural planet, capital city Gunya, population twenty five million, temprate climate, according to this it should be in its warm season, low pollution and tithe grades, fairly stable, last xeno incursion was more than thirty years ago looks like you lucked out with this one."

Victor completely agreed, there were worse planets he could be dumped on. Victor stood up and made to leave the office but the administrator called out "Oh one more thing, good luck Cadian."

In the vast cosmos of the immaterium, a realm where reason gave way to insanity and malign creatures of mortal nightmares swam as sharks swim through oceans, always seeking out new prey. A being ancient beyond thought and of unfathomable power set its gaze upon a lone mortal vessel as it traveled through its domain. The being watched it with eyes that never closed and whose gaze pierced through all. The mortal vessel was of no importance to it, neither were its crew…save for one of the flesh things onboard. The being opened its mind and nudged the vessel ever so slightly, setting it off course by only the tiniest fraction. And It was done, just like that, a mans destiny was altered forever.

The being looked down on the vessel again.

And the god of change smiled.

Victor rubbed his forehead as he sat slumped against the bulkhead of the flight deck in his dress uniform, he had no civilian clothes to wear other than sweats which he felt would have been completely inappropriate, besides maybe the locals would show him a little respect if they saw who they were dealing with. He was also hung over. He had spent the last night in the company of what was left of his friends and many bottles of good amasec and wine were emptied. He checked his chronometer and saw that he still had another fifteen minutes before the ship dropped out of warp when suddenly the officer of the deck screamed "OFFICER ON DECK!" Victor jumped to attention by habit though technically he didn't have too.

The familiar voice of Colonel Creed filled the room "At ease." The hanger deck resumed to the hustle of prepping the dropship and maintenance on the other craft present. The Colonel walked up to Victor and grinned

"I was wondering if you were going to show up or not" Victor said jokingly.

"What and let you leave without saying good bye? After all the good times we've had together?"

Both burst out laughing. When the laughter died down the Colonel pulled out a wooden container about the size of a shoe box. "I wanted to give you this as a reminder of all the good times, bad times…"

"…And everything in between" Victor finished

Victor took the container and opened it, lying on velvet padding was an old, well worn las pistol, its olive drab coating chipped and peeling in some areas.

"It's been sitting around gathering dust anyways, might as well give it to someone who might actually appreciate it."

"I'm honored, sir." Victor recognized it immediately, it was the same pistol that the Colonel had possessed when Victors white-shield squad had found Usarker in a ruined cathedral in kasr Gallen right after the eighth black crusade. Since then it had become something of an item with the Colonel and he had kept it as a suviouner of an experience that he has shared with no living soul.

Klaxons and alarms began to sound, the ship was preparing to drop out of warp.

"Victor where ever you end up, good luck and may the God-emperor watch over you."

Victor saluted, but instead of returning the salute the Colonel offered his hand

Victor grasped the hand.

"Strength and honor Victor."

"Strength and honor Ursarkar."

"Now grow old, get fat. And find yourself a good woman."

They both made the sign of the aqualia to each other and the colonel walked out of the flight deck.

Victor bent over and carefully fitted the wooden container into his seabag. Everything he owned he was carrying with him, a meager selection of personal items including a personal cognitor that Victor used to back up his mission log recordings from his helmets battle camera, his rifle (with five fully charged battery packs, it never hurt to be prepared) was slung on his back as it would not fit in either bags, his sword which was sheathed and packed in the duffle bag, his bolter pistol (with four full clips of bolts which he had pilfered from the armory) he wore on his hip in a holster, a copy of the book of faith , his copy of The Imperial Infantrymans Uplifting Primer that he was issued when he was accepted into the regiment, his various uniforms work out outfits and other clothing articles, two pairs of boots, one pair of running shoes, and personal hygiene effects. He had his armor and battle kit stowed in his back pack along with various "parting gifts" given to him from friends.

He picked up his whole life and walked onto the shuttle.

Heather cursed as she fumbled to stuff the trash bag into the can, it was past 8:30 PM and it was dark. Even after the sun had set it was still hot and humid. The neighborhood was silent except for the occasional sound of a distant car driving by. She had finally finished unpacking all her belongings that day and now that the trash was out she had just finished her chores. She thought about how she was going to spend the rest of the evening when Brittney came out of the door of her house dressed in jean shorts and a Save The Whales t-shirt. Brittney walked over to the fence.

"Hey Heather what do you got planned for the night?"

Heather thought for a moment but couldn't come up with a valid excuse to get out of whatever Brittney was about to ask her to do.

"Uh…Nothing really, maybe just watch some T.V."

"Freds coming over in a minute and we're going to the park, it's pretty nice and quiet this time of night. You wanna come along?"

Heather looked down at what she was wearing, a cross country t-shirt from her old school and some sports shorts. She wanted to make friends but everyone around here seemed so weird to her. After further consideration she decided why not, she couldn't remain a shut in forever.

"Sure, let me go change."

Brittney gave her a glance over and said "Nah, no ones out this time of night, and even if they were no one really cares anyway."

"Oh, ok. Let me tell my parents then."

"Alright."

Heather walked over to the front porch of her house and poked her head in "Hey mom! Neighbor wants me to go to the park with her and her friend, that ok with you?"

Her mom replied "Sure thing honey, be back by 11 and make friends!"

Heather had just shut the door when Fred arrived driving an old Navy blue ford tempo.

Brittney took the front seat and Heather took the driver side back seat, she had to move some painting supplies to the other side of the seat.

Fred turned to look at her "Oh hey! I didn't know you were coming along!"

"Is it ok with you?" She asked

"Absolutely, the more the merrier hey Brittney did you get that stuff from the thrift shop that I pointed out?"

"Yeah I got it, it's in the wash right now, smelled like old people."

"I told you it was adorable."

"it's cute alright."

The park was less than ten minutes drive from the neighborhood and if the parking lot was any indication, was completely empty except for that pink mustang that those girls from yesterday had driven.

Brittney slapped her face "Damn it I just hope we don't run into them."

Heather was curious as to why there was bad blood between them, that and she really didn't want to get in the middle of a fight if they did run into those three.

"Why don't you like them?"

Brittney was about to say something when Fred jumped in between them "It's a long story for another time, lets head for the benches."

The benches were about thirty minutes of walk from the parking lot during which Fred and Brittney asked her questions about her old life and she obliged them and she asked them about what life in the city was like, she found that despite her initial misgivings she was having a fun time.

They had reached the benches, which were a series of pavilions and grills with picnic tables set out overlooking a large clearing featuring a sand trap with a volley ball net. They picked out a table that was that at the edge of the clearing.

They had just sat down when Brittney turned to Fred and said "Alright lets do this."

They both placed one fist on the palm of the other hand and at the same time said

"Rock paper scissors shoot!"

Brittney threw down scissors and beat Freds paper.

"Ha your turn."

Heather was confused "His turn for what?"

"You'll see."

Fred reached into one of his pockets and pulled a cigar and a small baggie that had a distinctive aroma.

Heather almost gasped "Is that what I think it is?"

"Probably, you down?"

"I don't know…" To be honest with herself, she had always been curious.

"How about this, just try it this once, and if you don't like it we won't ask again and we won't do it when you're around."

Fred had gutted the cigar and was putting the weed in "Oh please just try it, it's so nice out here and there's nobody around."

Heather silently weighted the pros and cons in her head, on the one hand Fred and Brittney were nice and she really got along with them and she had always wanted to try it. On the other hand if she got caught her parents would never let her hear the end of it. If she got caught.

Whats the worse that could happen?

Fred was putting the finishing touches on the joint when Brittney nudged Heathers shoulder "Weeellll?"

"Ok, just this once."

Fred almost squealed. "Done, and a fine one if I do say so myself."

Brittney grabbed it from him "Let me see, ah I can do better."

"You messed up the last one pretty bad though."

"Don't blame me the cigar was stale, spark it already."

Fred pulled out a red bic lighter from his pocket and lit it, taking two drags and passing it to Brittney.

Brittney held it for a second then passed it to Heather "Since it's your first time, I'll let you have neighbor."

Heather took it and looked at it for a few seconds, still unsure.

"Don't just look at it. Hit it already!"

Heather put it to her mouth and breathed in. She immediately had a coughing fit. Brittney patted her on the back giggling. "I remember the first time I smoked too."

Heather took another hit and tried to hold it in for as long as possible before she burst into coughing again. And that was when things started to feel…different. She passed it to Brittney

Fred was laying on his back looking up at the stars when he suddenly pointed up "Sweet look a shooting star!" Brittney looked up as she exhaled smoke "Where?"

Fred pointed again "There."

"Oh I see it, Heather look."

Heather was definitely feeling it, but she couldn't figure out how, everything just looked different. She looked up to where Fred was pointing.

"Uh, guys that's not a shooting star."

Both Fred and Brittney turned to look at her, from their expressions she could tell that they were waiting for an explanation.

"Shooting stars don't last that long, and is it just me or is it getting bigger?"

Fred looked up again "She's right, it is getting bigger."

Brittney laughed. "Well what else could it be, a ufo coming to abduct us."

Heather giggled at that, which was strange as normally she wouldn't find that funny. She took another hit as the joint had made its way back to her, this time she hardly coughed at all. "Maybe it's a shuttle or something falling back to Earth. Or a satellite."

Fred spoke out this time "What if it is a ufo and it landed right here!"

Brittney punched Fred in the shoulder "Ow what was that for?"

"Don't say stupid stuff like that."

The supposed shooting star was clearly something entering the atmosphere now, Heather could make out a heat trail and more disturbingly, It did indeed seem to be heading their way.

"Uh guys, look."

All three of them sat there staring as the object grew bigger and bigger. They almost didn't notice it when Katherine, Mira, and Cassey stumbled into the clearing, Katherine had a back pack on, all the girls were wearing the same outfit, a short sleeved tightfitting V neck shirt and almost indecently short skirts. Each of the girls had a beer in their hands. Heather betted that from the way they were talking to each other and stumbling about, they had probably had a couple by now.

Brittney shook her head and passed the joint to Fred "Damn it, that's all we need."

Fred laughed "Wow look how drunk they are too."

The three girls walked over to the picnic table that they were sitting at. Mira sniffed the air "Are you guys smoking weed?" Brittney immediately snapped back "You actually walk around a park, at night, dressed like that?"

"There's, like, no one here."

Katherine was looking up at the object "Shut up Mira, do you guys see that too?"

Fred answered for them "Yeah at first we thought it was a shooting star but it kept getting bigger and bigger."

Cassey sat her beer down on the picnic table and asked "Oh no what if it hits us?"

Katherine scoffed at Cassey "Don't be stupid, there's no way that thing is coming near us."

Heather thought otherwise, but then again, she was thinking pretty differently right now.

The object was low now, at the same height planes usually fly , about fourty thousand feet Heather guessed. A low throbbing noise could now be heard.

Cassey started to look scared "Oh my god it is a ufo, and its headed this way!"

At this point no one could disagree, the throbbing engine noise was growing louder and they could make out the shape of it now. The object was blocky and its nose was like a helicopters except it had no rotors. Behind what Heather assumed was the cockpit was a large boxy apparatus on top of which two engines sat that ran the length of the ship. Two fins shot out behind the box and two short stubby wings sprouted out on both sides. Heather swore she could see what looked like missiles attached under the wings.

Fred reached into his pockets and pulled out his cell phone, he hit a few buttons and pointed it at the ship.

Mira looked over at him and twisted her face in scorn "Are you actually recording that thing?"

Fred was giddy "Hell yeah I am!"

The ship, and it was clearly a ship, was almost right over them now and it started to slow down and descend, it was at tree top level and it looked like it was going to land in the clearing right next to them.

Heather could just make out a giant double headed eagle painted on the sides.

The throbbing engine noise started to die dow as the craft cut power to its engines.

Cassey was almost in a panic now "Guys its landing, we gotta hide!"

Brittney took another hit on the joint passed it to Cassey "You clearly need this more than I do."

Fred stood up "It doesn't look like a ufo to me."

Katherine shouted out at him "And you know what ufos look like!"

Heather spoke up next "It looks like a helicopter kind of except for the rotors."

Mira pointed to the double headed eagle that Heather had noticed "Do any of you recognize that symbol?"

The ship touched down in the clearing less than twenty meters from where the six stood, without ceremony or grace. A door on the side of the boxy part behind the cockpit opened and a figure leaped out, he had a back pack on and he was carrying a duffel bag in one hand and a what looked like a rifle in the other, it was like no rifle that Heather had ever seen before, but it was too dark to make out the details.

As soon as the figure had disembarked, the ships engine started to roar again and it took off, shooting off into the night.

The figure knelt down.

Victor knelt down and grabbed a handful of dirt, as was his personal custom whenever he set foot on a new planet and whispered a silent prayer to the Emperor for his safe arrival. He stood up and looked around, forest surrounded him but there was clearly an artificial trail that led into them, two lamps suspended high in the air on metal poles flickered on and he saw six terrified looking teenagers standing by a grouping of pavilions and tables. _What are they so scared of? _He asked himself. He shouldered his rifle and fished out an Lho stick from his pocket and walked over to the teenagers intending to ask for directions.

This was unreal to Heather, If it weren't for the fact that everyone else saw the same thing, she would have dismissed the whole event as the weed affecting her mind, but she couldn't dismiss the fact that an unknown ship that they had observed making entry into the planets atmosphere, had just deposited an alien right in front of them, fear nagged at her in the back of her mind, baying for her to turn and run to get help, but at the same time curiosity kept her feet firmly planted where they were. She couldn't help but get the feeling that she was witnessing history in the making. Damn the weed, she wished she was sober for it.

The alien was approaching them, they were all too scared to meet it but too curious to run away. The alien then stepped into the light afforded by the light pole and they all collectively and uncontrollably took a deep breath, the alien was human.

Fred put away his cellphone and started to walk towards him. Brittney yanked him back by the arm "What the hell are you doing?"

"Making first contact." And continued to walk towards the alien. Much to her own surprise as well as the others, Heather followed him, she was anxious to find out what was going on. Right behind her Brittney and the others started to walk towards him as well.

Fred stopped about five meters away from the man and now that he was in the light Heather could make out the details of his person. He was tall, and handsome. He looked like he was in his early twenties but she couldn't be sure, he was powerfully built and looked like he could do some serious damage if he wanted too, his biceps were huge! She'd seen thinner trees. She noticed that a tattoo poked out from underneath the sleeve of his left arm. He wore a grey uniform that she couldn't recognize with a cap that had a human skull with wings emblazoned on it. Then she saw the scar that ran down from his left eye to past his cheek. And then she noticed his eyes, they were a brilliant violet, she couldn't take her gaze away from them.

Fred cleared his throat. "Hello, Can you speak English?"

Victor looked at the kid almost comically and replied "No, but I can speak low gothic perfectly fine."

Fred and Brittney looked at each other, Fred shrugged then stood as tall as he could, his shoulders as straight as possible. "On behal…"

Victor interrupted him "Do you have a light?"

"What?"

"A light, a fire making device? I left mine on the _Kindle of Faith_"

"Oh uh, yeah, is the uh kindle of faith that ship that just brought you here?" Fred fumbled into his pockets and then tossed the bic lighter to the alien who caught it and after a moment of playing around with it, figured out how to get it to make fire.

Victor lite his Lho-stick and took a long pull on it, then he tossed the lighter back to the teenager.

"You mean the Valkyrie? No that's just a drop ship, the _Kindle of Faith_ is in orbit." Victor looked up "She's actually about to make translation to the warp again, look closely you might see it."

Heather looked up, as did everyone else, and just as the alien had said there was a brilliant flash of light in the sky, as if something had exploded and then just as quickly as it had appeared the light imploded back in on its origin.

Katherine stepped forward "So you really aren't from here?"

Victor took another pull on his lho-stick "Nope."

This time Cassey stepped forward "Then you're really an alien!"

Victor turned his head slowly to the blonde one "Do I look like an alien?"

"No but if you're not from this planet then that makes you an alien."

Victor shook his head, just who were these kids anyway. "I'm an off-worlder, an alien isn't human, I am human, not that difficult a concept."

Mira pushed her glasses back up to their proper position. "Wow, I can't believe this, your actually from another planet, no one is gonna believe this."

Fred held up his cell phone "I've got proof!"

Mira ignored him and stepped closer to the off worlder "So who are you?"

Victor flicked the lho-stick away "Victor Saemeter Grassin, Formerly a Kasrkin storm trooper of the Eighth Cadian Shock regiment."

Cassey just couldn't control her mouth, perhaps it was the alcohol speaking "A stormtrooper? Like in Star Wars?"

Katherine face palmed "Damn it Cassey…"

Victor was starting to get annoyed, he had other things to do then entertain the questions of sheltered children. But still, he was new to this planet and did not think that angering the locals would be a wise first move. He would suffer these questions until he could get something useful out of them "I have fought many wars amongst the stars, you will have to be more specific."

Brittney pulled Cassey away from Victor so that she would not be encouraged to ask any more pointless questions "She's talking about a movie, not a real war."

Heather was in a world of her own, those eyes, she didn't know that people could have violet eyes like that, and then her mouth put her thought to speech before her brain had time to filter. "You're eyes, I've never seen anyone with violet eyes like that before."

Victor turned his attention to Heather "And your eyes are blood shot and glazed over, I suspect you're on some sort of narcotic. But to answer your' question, all Cadians have violet eyes, it is a small mutation that comes with living so close to the Eye of Terror."

Heather felt terribly ashamed and embarrassed, here was a real off worlder, a man that had come from another planet. And the first thing that he had noticed about her was that she was high.

Katherine asked the next one, something that Heather had been wondering as well but was too out of it to ask. "So if you're an off-worlder where are you from and why did you come here."

Victor exhaled the smoke from his lho-stick. "I hail from the fortress-world Cadia, and I am here because I am retired, I have survived my tour in the Imperial Guard, my only purpose here is to settle down and live out the rest of my days, someday I may return to Cadia, I miss my home dearly."

Fred looked puzzled "You're retired? You look our age!"

Victor sighed, his patience was reaching its limits. "Looks can be deceiving child, I have been on youth rejuvenate serums since I was your age that I may continue to serve the Emperor. In one months time will celebrate my one hundred and forty ninth birthday."

Everyone was shocked, Heather was speechless, He was old enough to be her great grandparent.

Heather then asked the million dollar question "Who's the Emperor?"

The lho-stick fell from victors mouth and shock over took his every fiber of being, he did not know whether to shoot the girl or laugh. He turned back to face the red haired one. "Surely you joke?"

"No, is he the ruler of your planet?"

"He is the immortal ruler of all mankind. How could you have not heard of him."

"We've never met anyone from another planet before."

"Surely even this backwater planet has received word of the Imperial creed. Is this not an Imperial planet."

"No, it's not."

Victor took an involuntary step back. How could this have happened. He needed to investigate further. "This is not Valeran II, is it?

Katherine replied for Heather "No this is Earth."

Earth. That name rang a bell in Victors mind, but he couldn't put a finger on where he had heard it before.

"And there is no Imperial presence on Earth?"

"No, like what Heather said, we've never met anyone from another planet before."

Victor felt lost, he needed to sit down. He plopped on a bench that they had all been standing by and rubbed his temples. "So you have never heard of the Imperium of Man?"

"Imperium of Man?" The teenagers started looking at each other in confusion.

"Yes, the Imperium of Man. A million planets ruled by mankind and united under the God-Emperor, the father of all."

Heather looked at Brittney and they both shook their heads "God-Emperor? I'm sorry, I don't understand."

Victor stood up and paced, his mind raced with possible scenarios and conclusions. His first priority was to reestablish contact with the Imperium. He turned to address the teenagers. "Is this planet capable of telepathic communications?"

Mira laughed "Don't be silly, telepathy doesn't exist theres no such thing."

Victor shook his head "That kind of thinking is foolish, always beware the psyker."

Cassey nudged herself between Heather and Fred "You mean like the psychics that can predict your future. The ones that come on the infomercials on late night t.v.? Sometimes I think that I'm psychic, my boobs can predict when it's going to rain." She said, pressing her hand against her breast.

Heather, Fred and Brittney laughed, Mira shook her head. Katherine pinched Casseys arm "Cassey, just stop talking."

Victor halted "…That's wonderful to know young one, but I do not think that you have the affliction of the psyker. But I must ask, and answer truthfully, does this planet have unsanctioned psykers?"

Brittney shook her head "No, psychics are made up, just scams to make money. Theres no such thing as a person who can read minds."

"Yes, there are. Though I am glad there are none here, they are extremely dangerous."

Heather's mind was blown, a person who could read minds could be dangerous in any number of ways though "Why are they so dangerous?"

"Their powers make them dangerous and a menace to all, an uncontrolled psyker can cause unthinkable harm to everyone around them. I have seen some that have doomed entire planets. What about Vox communications, can you transmit off-world radio signals?"

Mira piped in "We can, but they would take forever to get to another planet that's not in this solar system, probably wouldn't even reach another system."

There was a moment of silence, it was uneasy and awkward. Neither Victor nor the teenagers knowing what to say. It was Heather who broke the quiet "So what are you going to do now."

Victor growled frustrated at his predicament, If these people can't even make off world communications the he could assume that off world travel was out of the question. He was marooned on a heathen planet filled with people ignorant to the basic tenets of the Imperial Creed. He remembered the promise he made to himself in the administrators office, to remain true to his values and keep faith in the Emperor. He remembered his scared oath that he made upon the Aqualia one hundred and thirty one years ago. To defend humanity to his dying breath. His path was clear again, he would bring these people into the Emperors embrace.

Victor spoke up, his voice now filled with purpose. "My duty, this is a heathen planet, but I will save you all, I will not rest until this planet praises the holy God-emperors name."

Brittney scowled "Oh for the love of it all! You can't force your space religion on others! We have a thing here called freedom of religion, people are free to believe whatever they want. Maybe this planet doesn't want to be a part of your Imperium?"

"You act as if you have a choice. But why would this planet not wish to join the Imperium? All the Imperium stands for is humanity, united under one banner with the Emperor's guidance to stand against the common enemies of man, We are not an invader to be hated, we are the liberator. All who call themselves human are welcome to join and revel in his everlasting glory. The imperium can offer much for you, commercial trade, technology, true faith, protection-"

"Protection from what?" asked Fred

Victor took a look of disgust on his face "The enemies of man are many and insidious. The threat from without, xenos, the vile alien. Abominations that attack and butcher the innocent. The threat within, the heretic and mutant, traitors and deviants all of them. They plot and scheme to sacrifice the blood of the faithful to their unholy masters for power of their own. And then there is the threat from beyond the most unholy of the unholy. The less you know about that the better."

Katherine sat down on the table top, swinging her legs. "You don't paint a very pretty picture, it sounds so intolerant and hateful, I don't think I like it."

Victor scoffed "like it or not, the galaxy is a cruel and unforgiving place. There is no room for peace or tolerance, peace is a notion long since forgotten and tolerance a weakness long since expunged. For ten thousand years the Imperium has fought a never ending war, not for territory nor wealth, not for freedom nor personal gain, but for humanities very soul. For our right to exist as the rightful rulers of the cosmos."

Katherine's cell phone started to ring, filling the air with music featuring a high pitched female singer, Victor found it rather annoying. She reached down her shirt and pulled out her phone that had been tucked away in her undergarments. She looked at the caller ID. "It's Brandon. Shit, I forgot we were supposed to meet him at Jared's!" She hit a button and held the phone up to her ear "Brandon baby, now's not a good time, I'll call you back in a…What! Get out of here, who told you that?" She started to walk off to the edge of the woods. Mira and Cassey looked at each other.

Heather checked her own cell phone, it was already quarter past ten. She turned to Fred who was sitting on the bench across from Victor. "Uh I have to be back home in forty five minutes. I don't think that my parents will believe me if I told them I was late because of an alien-"

"Off worlder!" Victor shouted.

"Right, off-worder. But we can't just leave him here."

Brittney swung on the bench to face Heather. "You're right. Hey I got an idea, Freds staying the night anyways and my parents are out till tomorrow , you can crash at my place for the night."

Victor's expression eased and he gave a curt bow "That is most kind of you, I would be honored to accept your hospitality."

Mira and Cassy both stood up. Mira took a long sip from her beer. "Hey I wanna hear more. This is like, a once in a lifetime thing, this is history in the making! I'm gonna come by tomorrow."

Brittney clearly did not like the idea "I gotta work tomorrow, I don't have rich parents to spoil me."

Mira took offense at the comment "Whatever, don't be jealous just because my daddy's a genius."

The argument continued until Heather decided to defuse the situation "Both my parents are leaving for a business trip tomorrow morning and won't be back until the end of the weekend, It'll be just me and my little brother, Victor can stay with me until my parents get back. We have an extra room too. You two can come by my house tomorrow. That is if Victor wants to talk."

Victor shrugged "I do not mind, but why must I be hidden away from your' parents like this?"

Brittney chuckled "You obviously don't know how society works here."

Katherine had returned from her phone call, stuffing her phone back into her bra. "Brandons waiting for us." She said simply

Katherine then turned to Mira and Cassey "Come on girls, were already late for Jareds."

Cassey pouted "But I wanna hear more! It's like a real sci-fi movie!"

"You can hear more tomorrow." Katherine said firmly. She then turned Victor "We'll see you tomorrow ok?"

Victor was not overly enthused but maintained his civility "I will be looking forward to it."

The three girls left, following the trail back to the parking lot.

When the girls had disappeared from sight Brittney stood up from the bench "Come on, we'd better leave too."

On the walk back to the car Brittney and Fred briefed Victor on the locality, they told him how the nation they lived in was divided into fifty states each with its own laws and cultures, they gave him a summarized history of the United States from the revolution to the recent troubles in the middle east region of the planet. Victor paid close attention, taking mental notes of the government hierarchy and local laws.

It was 10:43 when Heather stepped through the door of her house, it was empty and silent. She was thankful that everyone had already gone to bed as she still smelled like weed. She quickly went to her room and grabbed a change of pajamas, and went into the bathroom that she shared with her brother, striping her clothes and stepping into the shower, she thought about the Off-worlder, Victor. She felt like he was her secret and she couldn't tell anyone about him. Not that she would any ways they would just call her crazy. She also tried to think of what she would tell her brother about a complete stranger staying in their house while her parents were away, and what she would have to do to keep his mouth shut. It was all so much, but at the same time, she was glad that she wasn't alone in this. She had Brittney and Fred for support and she guessed that they were her friends now. She also thought about Katherine Cassey and Mira, how would she deal with them and why didn't they get along with Brittney and Fred. She decided that she would just deal with it when the time came. She hopped out of the shower, got dressed, and slipped into bed. She fell asleep immediately.

Victor looked about the room that Brittney had called the living room. In one corner was a mid sized primitive television with a couch in front of it. In the corner opposite was an art easel. He noticed the amateur paintings that were hung on the walls, simple things like flowers, animals, and nature scenes. He set down his duffel bag and back pack leaning his rifle on a wall next to the couch. Fred had gone back to his own house to grab clothes for his overnight stay saying that he would only be about fifteen minutes, that was twenty minutes ago. Brittney had been in the shower since then and only now did the sound of running water stop. Victor kneeled and opened his duffel bag reaching in and fishing out a change of sweats, He stripped off his uniform and pulled on the sweat pants and a clean white undershirt. Folding his uniform neatly and placing it inside his bag he pulled out hand sized silver aqualia. He knelt holding the aqualia to his chest and began to pray.

Brittney walked out of the bathroom, wearing thin white with red polka dots pajama pants and a blue tank top. She heard a whispering voice coming from the living room and walked down the hall, stopping at the entrance to the living room. She saw Victor had changed out of his uniform and into simple unmarked green sweatpants and a white undershirt. She also saw that he was kneeling in prayer, but not like most people who get on both knees and clapped their hands together he was on one knee as if he were about to be knighted. She heard him whispering in a language that sounded familiar but she had never heard before.

She was waiting for him to finish when she heard Fred pulling into her driveway. He came in the front door with his red overnight duffel bag that has become a familiar sight to her. He clapped his hands together and proclaimed "Movie night!"

Victor rose from his prayer and raised and inquisitive eyebrow "Movie night?"

Brittney ran over to a wooden cabinet and opened it to reveal two full shelves of DVD's. She started to peruse the selection "Space Balls?"

Fred joined her "Nah, I'm in a fantasy kind of mood now."

Brittney continued to skim the DVD library until she pulled one out "What about Lord of the Ring?"

Fred perked up excited "Yeees, it's been a while since we've watched that one."

Victor walked over trying to look over Brittneys' shoulder to see what she was holding "What is a lord of the Ring?"

Fred answered "Only one of the most awesome movies ever made!"

Brittney turned on the t.v. set and pushed the dvd into its player then turned around to Fred "First things first."

At the same time they both balled up one fist on top of the other hands palm.

"Rock Paper Scissors Shoot!"

Brittney threw down paper, Fred threw down rock.

"Not fair I just did the last one!"

"Oh boohoo cry me a river, and make some popcorn while you're in the kitchen."

Fred disappeared into the kitchen, a moment later Victor heard a mechanical humming .

He approached Brittney "Care to explain what that was all about?"

Brittney grinned mischievously "You'll see." She went around the room opening all the windows. Before jumping down on the couch.

About three minutes later Fred returned with a bowl of popcorn and what looked like a hand rolled cigar to Victor.

Fred jumped on the couch next to Brittney and pulled out a lighter, igniting the cigar. Brittney grabbed a remote and hit play. Victor stood there as Fred took another puff of the cigar and then handed it to Brittney who turned to look at Victor "Well are you just gonna stand there or you going to come join us?" She patted the space next to her on the couch.

Victor walked over and sat on the couch, it was much too soft for his taste. Brittney finished her second pull on the cigar and handed it to Victor.

"What's in this?"

"Just try it."

"Narcotics?"

"That's such a harsh word."

Fred added in "You said you're retired right? What do you have to worry about?"

Victor had plenty to worry about, he still hasn't figured out what he was going to do about this whole debacle he was in, and narcotics were not going to help. On the other hand, if he refused he did not want to offend their hospitality.

After a moment's consideration, he grabbed the cigar from Brittneys out stretched hands. He put it to his mouth and inhaled. Brittney was staring at him, expecting the coughing fit that most people get their first time smoking, but Victor didn't even sniffle.

He took another pull at it and passed it back to Brittney who then passed it to Fred. Victor started to feel funny, he was feeling more and more giddy.

Fred took two pulls on the cigar and thumped it over a glass ashtray and passed it to Brittney "So tell us more about life in the big bad galaxy."

"What is it you want to know?"

Brittney chimed in "Tell us about your planet."

"Cadia?"

"Yeah."

"Cadia is the most militarized planet in the galaxy, as we are the closest planet to the eye of terror and as such are often the first planet invaded by the arch-enemy during their accursed black crusades. Every man woman and child can pick up a rifle and fight. Our cities, which are called Kasrs, are built like fortresses and designed to grind the enemy down during an attack. We are taught to shoot and maintain a rifle before we can read and write." Victor pointed to his rifle which was leaning against the wall "I could field strip and reassemble my rifle blindfolded when I was seven."

Fred threw a handful of popcorn in his mouth "Jesus, no wonder you're such a hard ass."

Victor laughed without knowing why. "I can't believe I'm doing this, I can still hardly believe I survived."

"Survived what?"

"The Imperial Guard."

"Tell us about the guard."

"We are the first line of defense, the most massive army in the galaxy. Whenever the enemy attacks we are the first to fight." Brittney handed the cigar to Victor which he accepted and took a pull on. "Earlier you called this tribe, the United States, a cultural melting pot, but I assure you you have not seen culture shock until you have seen the Imperial Guard, imagine it. A million worlds each with their own unique culture and the only thing that ties us all together is our faith in the God-Emperor. I tell you it is a truly magnificent and wondrous thing to experience." Victor then looked at his hands, they looked…different. "I believe I am quite intoxicated now."

They all laughed.

Heather was drenched in sweat and panting. It was dawn and the sun was just poking out over the horizon. It was already in the high seventies and humid. Heather had run cross country in her old school, and she had kept it a point of pride to keep herself in shape. She had a couple of trophies from competitions and considered herself pretty fast. Victor had run her into the ground.

She had woken up at seven in the morning to get a run in before it got too hot. Her parents having already left for their business trips, She changed from her pajamas into a work out outfit consisting of a sports bra covered by a plain grey t-shirt and blue gym shorts and had walked out the door just to see Victor was out running as well. When he discovered that she was going to run he offered to accompany her, she didn't know how to say no. Victor had allowed her to set the pace and as they ran, he distracted her with stories of his childhood, he told her about the youth militia that he called "White-shields" and how the only requirement for entry was that a child must know how to field strip and reassemble a rifle. He told her about the city he grew up in, Kasr Prosan and described in great detail the magnificent towering structures and his favorite statues immortalizing the heroes of old. She gradually began to open up, she found herself growing comfortable around him. She told him about her life in the Kansas and her old friends, she told him about her boyfriend in Kansas who she shared her first kiss with and how she had broken up with him when she caught him kissing another girl. She asked him if he remembered his first kiss, he simply shook his head and explained that he did not have the luxury of a love life, and she laughed calling him the one hundred and forty eight year old virgin.

Before she knew it they had run seven miles and Heather simply could not go any more, her stomach burning and her legs all but numb. She leaned against Victor for support, resting her head on his shoulder to keep herself from collapsing. She had over done it.

Victor put an arm around her shoulder and started walking, forcing her to put one foot in front of the other. "Keep walking, it will keep your muscles from cramping up. We are a kilometer from your home and I do not want to have to carry you the whole way back!" He joked. Sweat rolled into her eyes and she barely had the energy to wipe it away. All she wanted to do was laydown and rest, she needed something to distract her "Keep talking, Victor, tell me the story behind that Scar."

"Which one?"

Heather reached up and ran her finger down the scar on his left eye.

"This one I earned during the battle for the Galaxians Scepter, on a planet called Nimbosa about ninety years ago, give or take a few. Xenos known as the Eldar claimed the holy relic was theirs and demanded that it be turned over to them. The planetary Governor of course refused. The xenos vowed that if we did not hand it over to them they would take it by force. The Governor called for imperial aid to defend the sacred artifact. Four regiments were assembled for its defense, the Seven hundred and sixty second Vostroyan First borns, the forty ninth Elysian skyborn, the Tanith First and only, and of course, the Eighth Cadian Shock. It was a hard battle, and the lighting fast strikes of the xenos proved costly. Only the sheer genius of our commander, Lord Colonel Usarker Creed the Indomitable, kept us from falling to the bait and switch tactics of the xenos. The battle was finally won when in their arrogance, the xeno commander took the field with a small group of their best warriors and tried to assassinate our commander. When our standard bearer, Colour Sergeant kells intercepted the snipers bullet intended for the colonel, the xeno commander and it's warriors materialized seemingly from all sides. All that stood between the Colonel and the xenos was my squad…" Victor trailed off. Sadness and regret filled his voice.

Heather noticed this "Whats the matter?"

Victor shook his head "Nothing, I just miss them, my squad."

That was the most emotion Heather had seen him express "What happened to them?"

"Dead, no more than a week ago, a freak rocket that came out of nowhere. By all rights, I should have died with them."

Heather felt immensely sorry for him "I'm so sorry, were you close with them?"

"There were like brothers to me, good men all of them, they died in service to the Emperor, there is no greater honor than that. It doesn't make their passing any easier though." Heather heard honest sorrow in his voice.

She stopped her hobbling and pulled Victor to her and held him in embrace. Victor was caught completely off-guard and had no idea of how to respond to it. Heather was sure that this was the most affection that he had ever gotten from a girl. She saw now that he was just as human as she was.

She finally let go, she had left a damp impression of herself on him in sweat, but he didn't seem to mind. the two continued down the side walk, her house was in view. After a few silent moments Victor finally said "Thank you." Heather smiled warmly at him "So, finish the story…all that stood between your Colonel and the aliens were you and your squad then what happened?"

"We formed a protective circle around our lord, it was a glorious thing to fight side by side with the Colonel, he is a true Imperial hero, the Colonel with the regimental standard raised proudly in one hand and his signature pistol in the other, we fought to defend the Colonel. A xeno warrior charged me with a sword that howled as I fired my last remaining shot. I Just had time to draw my own sword. The howling warrior slashed out at me with unnatural speed and drew first blood." Victor ran his hand over the scar once more. "Oh you should have seen the fight between us, few opponents have tested my skill as much as that Eldar did. Maybe I will show you the recordings when we get back. Any way the Colonel challenged the xeno commander to single combat and bested it." Victor did not feel that Heather needed to know how after the Lord Colonel had killed the xeno commander he stuck it's head on its own spear and paraded it for all to see.

Heather perked her head up "Recordings?"

"Yes, on my personal cognitor I keep the recordings from my helmets battle camera from every single campaign I have served in. I keep them for review and study, and as a reminder of everything that I have done should the day come that my memory begins to fail me."

"So you have videos of every battle you fought in?"

"All the major ones, yes."

"Can I watch some? I want to see what the galaxy is like."

Victor sighed. "Do you really? It's not very pretty."

"We can't live sheltered forever."

"Very well, but only the ones that I allow."

"Ok!" Heather couldn't wait to get a glimpse of stars. She just had no idea what she was in store for.

When they had returned from the run, Heather showed him around her house. She showed him the guest bedroom on the top floor that he could use. He commented that he was not worthy of such accommodations. Victor had transferred his things over from Brittneys house to Heathers while she was in the shower. It had taken all of her will power to not sit down and sleep in the warm water. The sun was out now and it was well above the eighty five degrees that the thermometer claimed. She dressed in a purple tank top and a pair of comfortable jeans. She went to the guest room where Victor was unpacking a few things, mostly clothes. She noticed that as he fished around for a clean pair of socks, a book fell from his duffel bag. She cleared her throat "The bathrooms down the hall on the right, clean towels are already out." Victor nodded his appreciation, and then he took off his sweaty shirt. Heathers' jaw dropped in awe.

It wasn't the fact that he had a body that would make any gym rat envious, or the strange tattoos that he had. It was the scars that kept Heather staring at him, or it was what Heather kept telling herself. Victors body was a network of scars. Three circular puncture scars decorated his right chest, a strange tattoo featuring a structure with spiked arches a skull inside and outstretched wings was on his left right above where his heart is underneath which "VIII Cadian" was tattooed on a scroll, four parallel scars ran from the left side of the middle of his ribcage diagonally to his right waist and ended in a nasty looking burn, to Heather they looked like claw marks, though she'd hate to see the beast that did it. On his right shoulder he had a tattoo of a black I with another skull in the middle under it was written "inculpatus probo nihil: Ordo Malleus" and on his left shoulder was a sword with a number of hitches on it.

Victor turned around to grab his bundle of clean clothes and personal hygiene kit. His backside was no different from the front. Stretching across his shoulder blades was the Aqualia in black ink. Under it was _Kill the Xeno, Burn the Heretic, Purge the unclean_ The word purge was italic and bold. There were the same three puncture scars on his back as there were on the front, exit wounds maybe? Where something had gone straight through his body. Like bullets perhaps. An angry red scar ran down from the left head of the eagle to the middle of the small of his back to past his pants and there were a dozen more.

Victor left her in the guest room and she watched him disappear into the bathroom. She couldn't deny that she felt desire for his body. She always had a thing for tattoos. When she heard the shower turn on she walked over to Victors duffel bag and picked up the book that had fallen out. It was an old book, it's black leather cover cracked and scuffed. The double headed eagle, or the aqualia as Victor had explained to her during the run, was etched in gold on the cover. Underneath the aqualia, in broad golden letters was the title _The Imperial Infantryman's Uplifting Primer._ No author was named. Heather flipped open the book to a random page, immediately noticing how the pages had turned yellow with age. On that page were instructions for basic first aid that included prayer. She saw on the sides of the pages were hand written connotations, next to a paragraph describing how to treat a bullet wound someone, presumably Victor had written a warning against using a certain kind of medicine that caused victims of stomach wounds to bleed out. She flipped to the first page and the inside cover caught her eye. It was written in large and childish handwriting and she could make out what looked like bloody finger prints, she pressed her finger against one and saw that it was smaller than hers. It must have been when Victor was a child. She read the passage: _To whoever finds this I am White-Shield Victor Saemeter Grassin, please tell Commissar Nayle in golf company that I almost made it. Also tell Jacob that I don't blame him for leaving me behind. I hope he made it back. And tell my mother and my father that I did my very best and love them. _

Oh God. Heather thought to herself, She was reading Victors last words. As a child no doubt! She remembered her conversation about the White-Shields from the run earlier and she wondered how old he had been when he had written it. She noticed the sound of running water from the shower had ceased. Damn that was fast. She put the book back where she found it and went downstairs to make breakfast.

Victor came down a minute after her wearing a clean pair of the same sweats he had during the run. She had made eggs for the both of them. Victor said a short prayer before he wolfed down the eggs. He had finished his before Heather was even half way through with hers. He excused himself and cleaned the plate he used himself, scrubbing it with dish soap and washing it thoroughly. Heather found it immensely attractive to see a man clean up after himself. Heather noticed that there was a message on the answering machine and played it, it was Matt saying that he would be staying at the Jacobsons until their parents got back. Good, the longer he was out of her hair the better.

Heather cleared her throat, she was standing at the guest bedrooms door watching Victor folding and putting away his clothes. "So, when your done with that can you show me one of the video's?"

Victor put away the last of his undershirts and stood up, he walked over to his sea bag and pulled out a black rectangular block the size and width of a laptop computer, It had a full keyboard on it and she saw two speaker outlets on the sides. She also saw that It had no screen. He walked over to where Heather was standing and flipped the light switch off. "It was too bright, all you would see is glare. So where do you want to watch this?" Heather got on the bed, leaning her back against the headboard and motioned for Victor to sit next to her. She was excited, she would be the first person on Earth to see another planet! Victor climbed on the bed next to Heather and sat cross legged. He sat the cogitator in front of him and reached to push a button. Before he did he whispered something under his breath. Heather could have sworn she heard machine-spirit in the whisperings but decided not to ask. Victor then pushed the power rune.

The air in front of them filled with orange light. A skull, half of it human and half of it robotic, surrounded by a round cog, was suddenly staring at Heather. It startled her so much that she yelped loudly and jumped onto Victors lap.

Victor laughed and pointed to the half human half robot skull. "A hologram. It's the symbol of the Mechanicus, the Tech-priest of the red planet"

Heather, still in Victors lap, reached a hand out and punched through the skulls right eye. The hologram shimmered where she stuck her hand. "That's so awesome."

The skull suddenly disappeared and in its place a log-in screen popped up. Victor reached across Heather to type in a user name: _sgtgrassin_ and a passcode that Heather saw and made a mental note of: _Iveseenfireandiveseenrain. _

"So are you going to sit there the whole time?" Victor asked

"Oh right, sorry." Heather climbed off his lap, in truth she was actually rather comfortable there.

The hologram changed once more into a series of folders, there were over a hundred of them. She read some of the names attached to the folders, there were three parts to each folders name, a date, the name of the planet and then a short description of the campaign. Her eyes darted from folder to folder. The first one read M41 851.4.12-Cadia- Combat patrol northern forest/First time in combat , and the last one read M41 997.17.11-Hespharus-Squad dies. She looked at folders at random M41 863.23.1-Scyllia- Saint Scyllia massacre. M41 941.21.3-Armageddon-WAAGH Ghazghkull/Third war For Armageddon. There were so many. She was scanning the folders when she saw an anomaly in the date groups. M41 946.1.1-Cadia- There was no description for it, the next one jumped ten years ahead. M41 956.1.3-Cadia-Battle at Tyrok Fields, it was curious, but all of them were curious to her. Heather looked at Victor and he appeared to be in deep thought. "Well, which one?" She asked him.

"I'm thinking."

After another moment of thought he opened a folder labeled M41 902.9.5-Hagia- Glory of the Saint.

"Ok a little back ground information first, this was during the Sabbot Worlds crusade, Led by warmaster Slaydo. I had just been inducted into the ranks of the Kasrkin less than four weeks before hand under the recommendation of Lord Creed, and was placed in Purge squad, commanded by the late Sergeant Mathanial Yurial. Intelligence from high command suggested that the Arch-enemy was planning to attack the holy planet Hagia, the final resting place of the martyred saint Sabbot. Seven regiments were assigned to defend the Hive city of Praxis where her bones rested. We had no idea of what would happen. I warn you this is rather gruesome, do you still wish to see it?"

Heather eagerly nodded

Victor hit play

The hologram suddenly turned green, the Aqualia was displayed with "PAX IMPERIALIS" under it. Then the hologram suddenly turned two dimensional and the video began.

Victor was in a barracks room, the camera was panned down wards as Victor was hurriedly strapping on armor plates to his legs. Klaxons were sounding and all around him there were a dozen more guardsmen likewise rushing to make ready for war. The quality was good, she could make out individual nicks and scraps on the olive green armor. An intercom suddenly screeched on and a frantic male voice spoke as Victor and the other Guardsmen finished armoring themselves and started to rush through a hall way towards the exit. "Heretic landing craft are assaulting the city! All Guardsmen report to your post!"

The camera exited the building and Heather caught glimpse of the holy city of Praxis. It was night but she saw towering cathedrals of white marble and larger than life statues of holy figures standing proudly in armor and wreathed in artificial light. Sirens wailed and the camera panned around to show that hundreds of guardsmen were flooding out of buildings nearby into a motor-pool where men in long black trenchcoats with red sashes herded them onto cargo vehicles.

The camera panned up as a flight of aircraft flew overhead, Heather saw hundreds of streaks of fire in the sky, undoubtedly the heretic landing craft. Anti-aircraft fire filled the night, bright flashes of crimson light stabbed upwards to the invaders, long streams of tracers danced into the sky like ropes of fire, fighter craft could be seen in dog fights with each other, smoke plumes and missile exhaust trails crisscrossed everywhere. Victor and his squad were running towards the craft that had dropped him off on Earth, He pointed it out as a Valkyrie, It was set apart from the rest of the cargo trucks the other soldiers were piling into to. A voice, distorted and twisted by static, called over Victors radio. "Team Purge, the heretics are massing in the Juldian markets, cleanse them then return to your station on the wall!" The squad leader, Mathanial, acknowledged the orders and the craft took off. Juking and Veering to avoid their own AA fire, Heather had a better view of the city from the open bay doors of the aircraft, she was awed by the sheer scale of the city which stretched as far as the eye could see in all directions. Black smoke columns rose from all over and in the distance she could see a great wall surrounding the inner most parts of the city. The aircraft shuttered as it approached an intersection in a crowded marketplace and slowed. It decended until it was just low enough for Victor and his squad to disembark. The guardsmen jumped into the streets, rifles at the ready forming a circle until all had been deployed. As soon as the last Kasrkin was off the Valkyrie took lifted back in the air and took off. All around the Guardsmen civilians in simple robs and garb fled from an unseen threat. Sharp snaps and the unmistakable sound of gunfire and screaming could be heard from somewhere close by in the direction the civilians were running from. The Kasrkin broke the circle and started to run towards the direction of the gunfire. The civilians slowed their progress as they stampeded through. Mothers and fathers carried their children and the elderly were all but ran over by the screaming citizens. The Storm-troopers worked their way through until the crowd died out and only bodies remained. There were dozens of bodies littering the streets and walk ways of the markets. A yell caused the camera to turn to the side where a middle aged man ran in panic from a side street. Just as he had rounded the corner a shot rang out and cloud of blood exploded from his chest. The man crumbled falling face forward into the pavement. His killer then appeared and Heather saw her first heretic.

There were a dozen of them. They were filthy and dressed in rags of red. Most of them were shirtless and their darkened and greasy skin bore glyphs and symbols that made Heather uncomfortable, the most prominent of these symbols was an eight pointed star. They wielded old rusty looking rifles and cruel and wicked blades. Their eyes were filled with insanity and rage. As they saw the storm-troopers they raised their rifles and screamed "Blood for the Blood God!" and "Skulls for the Skull Throne!"

Victor and the other Kasrkin mowed them down with well aimed laser fire. The heretics bodies danced like puppets who were having their strings tugged and fell over. The scene disturbed Heather deeply and she grabbed on to Victors arm for comfort.

One of the heretics was still alive, struggling to rise to his feet again. Victor calmly walked over to him and pinned him down with his boot on the heretics bare chest. The heretic sputtered and spate out curses as Victor drew a pistol "Know now the judgment of the righteous." And shot him in between the eyes.

Heather had enough, she felt sick to her stomach and buried her head in victors chest. She sobbed "Please, no more." Victor stopped the recording and the gruesome scene disappeared. The numerous files appeared again.

"I tried to warn you."

Heather still had her head in Victors chest. She took a moment to collect herself before she finally withdrew her head. She didn't know what to say. "Why were they like that? How could people be so evil to shoot innocents like that?"

Victor sighed softly "Such is the nature of the arch-enemy, the nature of chaos, once you fall to heresy, you lose all your humanity." Victor switch off the cognitor "Chaos is the everything that we are not. They are the selfish and the wicked who have turned their back on the Emperor and everything that the Imperium stands for. Just remember this, whenever the line between right and wrong blurs, when you feel lost and it seems like the whole galaxy is set to against you, the God-Emperor watches over you. He gives strength to the meek and hope to the hopeless. Have faith in him and the madness that you just witnessed will never take hold over your soul."

Heather then had a disturbing thought. "What if they come here?"

Victor grinned "Then you have me to protect you."

Heather smiled warmly. Those words brought comfort to her and she shifted to get off the bed, her body stiffened and a sharp pain shot from her feet, she had forgotten just how hard she had pushed herself this morning and now her body was reminding her. She groined and rubbed her feet.

Victor raised an inquisitive eyebrow "Having trouble?"

"Just sore, it's been forever since I've ran like that."

"Here let me see."

"Nah, I'm fine."

"Obviously you aren't if you can't even stand up." Victor motioned for her to show him her feet.

Heather swung her legs and placed her feet at Victors side, he hunched over and picked up her left foot. He began to message and kneed it. It felt good and she could feel the tension of the cramped muscles dissipating.

Heather commented "This isn't the first foot rub you've given is it?"

"No, in the Imperial Guard we look after each other, but this is the first time I've given one to a girl. It's a nice change to handle soft and clean feet instead of one that is suffering from trench foot among other things."

Heather chuckled at the image of Victor massaging another mans foot. She laid down on the bed and found herself melting. Victor was pretty good with his hands. He spoke as he continued to massage. "I'm sorry I showed the video to you. The cosmos is so ugly and there is very little beauty left to it. This planet is like you. Young and innocent, full of wonder and grace. Ignorant to the carnage and bloodshed that surrounds it. I am envious of the life style you have here."

Heather suppressed a moan before she responded "There's still plenty of violence here, just look at the middle east. That place has been one never ending war for decades."

"Maybe, but this planet has never known war like the Imperium does. You have never had to deal with xenos, chaos, mutants…to fight an enemy that wants to destroy everything you have built, to corrupt your soul and kill everything that you love and hold dear."

"It sounds like a horrible place, how do you survive out there?"

"Faith in the God-Emperor and courage in our hearts. The Emperor only asks one thing of us mere mortals and who are we to deny him."

"And what is that one thing?"

"That we stand fast in the face of the enemy. That when the time comes we put aside our differences and stand as one. That is the purpose of the Imperium, that is the purpose of the Imperial guard. It is what we do best. We hold the line and should we die, then we die standing."

"I don't think that I could do what you do."

Victor laughed and switched his attention to her right foot. Her feet felt as good as new, now it was her just her legs that were stiff and sore. She considered asking him to massage them.

"You would be surprised at what man is capable of doing when all that he loves is threatened. There is not so much difference between us. The same heart beats in your chest that beats in mine. And deep down, I know that courage resides in you just as it resides in all mankind."

"Me? Courageous? Psht. I'd scream and hide."

"When the time comes, I'm sure you would do the right thing."

Heather smiled, genuinely complimented. Her feet were no longer sore, but she didn't want Victor to stop, it simply felt too good. She sat up "My backs a bit sore, would you mind?"

"Am I to be your personal masseur now?"

"You don't have to if you don't want."

Victor smiled and chuckled. The last time he had smiled this much was back at home on Cadia in a smokey tavern in the company of his squad drinking to their latest victory in battle. It was good to feel at ease again. "I am joking, you have been kind enough to give me shelter even though we had just met. It is the least I can do to return the favor."

Heather got up and crawled to in front of Victor, she sat back to him and awaited Victor to resume his handiwork on her back after a moment when it didn't come she turned to face him. "Is something wrong?"

"No no, this is just new to me. Never did I think I would find myself in this situation."

"You don't like it?"

"It has been a long time since I have felt this comfortable around someone outside of my brothers in arms. Before I departed my regiment, the Colonel told me to find someone and get fat, I had no intentions of doing either, yet here I am, with the attention of a beautiful young woman, if only you weren't a heathen." He threw the heathen part out jokingly.

Heather returned the jibe "Ha and you're an alien!"

Victor looked into her eyes "There's some fight in you yet, I like that. Now what part of your back is giving you trouble?"

Heather guided Victors hands onto the small of her back. He resumed his massage and Heather once more found herself melting in his hands.

"Enjoying yourself?"

"Very much, your good with your hands."

"Thank you, it is good that these hands are good for something other than bringing pain."

"I've never had a guy do this for me."

"I don't know why, you are a gorgeous girl. There must be a line of suitors fighting for your heart."

Heather giggled at the flowery words. "Guys hit on me all the time, most of them just trying for sex. I just wanted to say that I misjudged you, I thought you were a crazy hate filled man at first."

"You think I'm hateful?"

"Well I thought you were a religious nut at first, and then I saw your tattoo on your back, the one about killing xenos and burning heretics. Well, I'll just admit I thought wrong of you, I apologize."

"You have nothing to apologize for. In truth there is nothing but hatred in my heart for the Xenos, the heretic and the mutant, it gives me the strength to stand against them. Hatred is a powerful feeling but must be kept in check lest it dominates you. But do you understand why I hate them now?"

"After the video, yes I understand now."

Heather noticed that Victor did not touch anywhere other than the part of her back that she had indicated.

Heather giggled again "This is funny, I just saw you take on a dozen madmen and being close to a girl makes you this nervous?"

"The unknown makes everyone nervous."

Heather looked back to his face "So tell me about your squad. It must have been hard when they died."

"They were the finest men I have ever served with. I miss them all dearly. Castiel, my second in command was a fellow clansmen of mine. We had both grown up together and I had never fought a battle without him at my side. I remember on Othgore, we were separated from Imperial forces. We thought we were going to die as a hoard of greenskins closed in on us. We fought back to back in contest to see who could take the most xenos down before we were killed, we saved each other's lives so many times that I lost track of who was in whos debt. We were finally saved when our regiment launched a massive counter attack and drove the xeno hoard back. We spent many nights in taverns arguing who had killed more xenos and would play childish pranks on eachother."

"Awww, what kind of pranks."

Victor laughed at the trip down memory lane. "Once he filled my bunk with small stinging insects that he gathered from a jungle planet. I was covered in welts for a week. I took him to the sparing cages over it and laid him out cold."

Heather laughed "Even big bad warriors like you need to have their fun huh?"

"Life is stressful, everyone needs to unwind somehow."

Heathers back was feeling much better. She was about to thank Victor when the doorbell rang.

Heather had completely forgotten about Katherine and the other girls.

She reluctantly left Victor to answer the door, what she saw scared her more than the video had.

Katherine wasn't alone, there were at least twenty people outside. Her drive way was filled with cars and more were parked on the street edges. She opened the door to demand an explanation but Katherine barged in. "You said your parents were out of town right? Perfect time for a party! I'll introduce you to some people."

Before Heather could even reply Katherine waved the hoard inside, people crowd the house and loud music begins to play. Victor came down to investigate and shouted "What is the meaning of this!"

Katherine replied cooly "Just a little gathering, it'll be good for you, meet some of the locals yeah?"

Katherine sat on Heathers couch, she had a red mini skirt and pink tight polo shirt on. Mira and Cassey joined her, wearing similar clothes of different color schemes.

Before Heather could so much as tell Katherine that this was unacceptable, more people had flooded into the house. Victor was outraged and yelled for people to leave. No one paid him any mind. Eventually Heather told him to stop before he hurt someone. The party was in full swing now and nothing short of the cops was going to stop it.

Katherine led Heather around, introducing her to similar girls of her age group and Victor to prominent males. Victors face never changed from a scowl.

Drink was aplenty and Heather partook just to keep herself from going mad with all the people that now crowded every inch of her house. Music boomed, couples danced, and chit chat filled the air.

It was inevitable that people started to hook up and tried to find privacy where ever they could. Heather shooed multiple couples from her room. She noticed that her underwear drawer was open and someone had pilfered a pair. She turned to see a few guys leaving from the guest bedroom with Victors things. One athletic looking kid was swinging a gold hilted sword around while the other pointed Victors rifle at the one with the sword, the one with the sword was wearing Victors helmet and the other wore a flak vest that was undoubtly Victors as they both bore the winged skulls that symbolized the Imperial Guard, they proceeded to mock battle each other with the gear. She hurried over to them "Guys are you serious! Put those back!"

The one with Victors sword was drunk and pointed it her he laughingly mock stabbed her "Don't worry girl, this shit looks like it was made for some nerds cosplay costume anyway." The one with Victors rifle held out an object that fit where the magazine would go "See this thing runs on batteries, watch."

He put the battery into the rifle and a green charge bar appeared on the side, he pointed the rifle at an open window and pulled the trigger.

A crimson laser beam shot out, the air snapped loudly. It left a smoldering and smoking hole in the curtains of the hall window he had shot out of. Heather thanked whatever being was watching out for her that no one had gotten hurt and nothing serious had been damaged. The music had stopped, all eyes were on the two kids wearing Victors battle kit.

The two idiots looked shocked. They then turned to face each other. The one holding the rifle exclaimed "Dude it's a real mother fucking laser rifle, where the hell did you get this?" Suddenly Victor was behind them, Heather didn't even see him appear there. He was furious. "Thieves, you dare to take my war-gear!"

"We just found it in the guest bedroom, this shit is fucking wicked."

"You discharged it inside as well! Are you complete imbeciles!"

"Dude, chill out, we were just having some fun."

"Return it now!"

"Wait your turn asshole, I wanna shoot the laser gun."

Before Heather could cry out Victor punched the teenager with his sword in the mouth so hard that blood and teeth splattered against the other offender, the guy flew into a wall and crumpled against it, he was knocked out cold. The sword flew in the air and Victor caught it by the hilt. He expertly twirled it a couple of times before he swung it at the other guys neck. Somewhere in the twirls Victor did something with it because now it hummed, glowed blue, and arcs of electricity bounced up and down its blade. Victor halted the swing just at the rifle guys neck.

"Last chance, give me back my rifle."

The terrified teen looked at the electrified blue blade that was just a hairs breadth from his neck. He tossed the rifle to Victor who caught it with his free hand.

"And my vest."

The kid took it off and laid it on the ground.

"Is that all that you took?"

"Y-Y-Yeah, we just wanted to look at it."

"Where I come from, we kill for less. Now leave."

Victor deactivated his sword and walked over to the unconscious form of the second offender, he collected his helmet and his vest and walked into the guest room, shutting the door behind him.

The party resumed, all talk was about the man with the magic sword and the laser gun. Heather knocked on the guest bedroom door but Victor did not answer. Katherine appeared "He's pissed, let him cool off. Come on, there's some cute guys I want you to meet."

The cute guys were a wide variety who had one single goal, to get into Heathers pants. The white "gansta" tried to impress her with a rap that Heather was frankly offended by, the athletic jock tried to score with a series of titles and championships, the French guy tried to win her over with flowery rhetoric. The math genus made lame mathematical jokes she actually was able to counter, she was good at math. She denied them all the same. Several approached her with questions about the man with the cool toys. She told them that it was just a powerful laser pointer and the sword was a movie prop that he had, they seemed to buy it.

Heather walked around the house to make sure that nothing was damaged and everything was accounted for. She saw a bottle of cheap liquor on the counter and poured herself a shot. She downed it and gagged. She thought about how she was going to deal with the situation of everyone in the party witnessing Victors laser gun and magic sword. She poured herself another shot and downed it. She had downed quite a few when she caught eye of Brittney and Fred at the door way. She stumbled her way past dancing couples and chatting circles to greet them "Thank god you guys are here."

Brittney looked around "What the hell…"

Heather was tipsy, bordering drunk, she talked with her hands "Katherine came and she brought all these people with her, we gotta talk. There was an incident involving you know who."

She led them up to her room and after shooing out another couple she led them in and shut the door behind her, locking it. She told them about how some drunk idiots had gotten into Victors things had fired off a laser shot inside the house and then the subsequent beating Victor had bestowed upon them, she also mentioned Victors magical sword. Brittney burst in uncontrollable laughter "So he actually punched Daniel in the mouth? Oh god that's rich, asshole deserves it." Fred was fascinated "His sword actually glowed blue?"

"Yeah and hummed and there was electricity all over it but that's not the point, I don't know how to contain this."

Brittney sat on Heathers bed "You can't. Too many people saw it all we can do is just hope that no one cares when they wake up tomorrow hung over. Where is he now?"

"He's in the guest bedroom, he's been in there for almost three hours now, I have no idea what he's doing. I knocked a couple of times, but he ignored it. He was pretty pissed."

"Maybe someone should check on him?" Fred suggested

Brittney retorted "He broke Daniels jaw, you wanna go in there?"

Fred shrugged "Maybe he's cooled down."

"Heather you do it."

"Why me?"

"Because it's your house."

Heather rolled her eyes, she was a little worried about him but she didn't want to go in there if he was still raging. She grabbed a couple of beers from her now alcohol packed fridge. She went upstairs noticing that people were giving wide berth to the guest bedroom. She knocked again. When no one answered she tried opening the door, it was unlocked. She walked in and found Victor kneeling over his rifle which was now disassembled. Incense was burning and a cleaning kit was apparent. Victor was whispering in a language the heather had heard before, but couldn't place a finger on. She cleared her throat "I brought up some drinks, thought you could use some company?"

"Those fools, I am thankful they did not get a hold my bolt pistol, that could have been deadly. They discharged it inside without a proper offering to the machine spirit, now I must placate it."

"Is that what you've been doing up here the whole time? Praying?"

"Offering proper obscenest to the rifles machine spirit."

Victor stood up and accepted a beer from Heather. "I apologize for causing a disturbance in your house, I let my anger get the better of me."

"Don't worry about it, I would have been just as mad if they had been going through my things. Which I am, because someone went through my underwear drawer."

"So how goes the party?"

"Lots of drinking going on, lots of dancing, I keep having to kick people trying to get it on out of my room. Lots of guys trying to hit on me. I wanted some time away from it all and figured you could use a drink."

"I appreciate it." Victor raised his can in a small toast to Heather.

Heather looked over Victors shoulder and saw the sword in an ornate and decorative gold and gunmetal grey sheath. "So what was up with the sword? It was glowing and sparks were going everywhere. People out there think its magic."

Victor grabbed the sheath and withdrew the sword, Heather could make out runes and words engraved on the blade but couldn't see them clearly enough to tell what. "No, it's not magic, it is a power sword. It generates an electrical field that adds to its armor piercing ability. Granted, this sword is ancient and has been in my blood line for over fourteen generations. I had it blessed by the High Ecclesiarch of Kasr Prosan after i ran into…well, I'll just leave it at I had it blessed."

"You think the blessing makes it a better sword?"

"No, it just makes the sword better at fighting certain things." Victor took another chug of his beer.

"What kind of things?"

"Unholy things. Ask no more, I do not want to keep you up at night."

Heather took a seat on the edge of the bed and set her beer down, her world was starting to spin. "What makes you think that it'll keep me up at night?"

"Because it keeps me up at night, I still have nightmares of it."

"What was it, tell me."

"Just like you were so eager to see my video? No, you are not ready to know."

Victor had a point there, she had been so excited to watch his videos, to see other planets. She had almost been sick to her stomach. "Point taken." She watched as Victor reverently reassembled the rifle with the precision and speed of practiced hands. He checked his wrist watch and grinned "Still got it, fifty two seconds."

"What?"

Victor shook his head dismissingly at her "It's a Cadian thing." He put the rifle back in the corner. There was a knock at the door. "It's Fred, is it safe?" Heather got up and opened the door and let Fred and Brittney in. She closed the door behind them. Brittney commented "Sick party out there, everyone's afraid to come near here."

Victor frowned "Good, the last thing I need is some miscreant rummaging through my belongings again."

"Yeah I heard about that, can't believe you broke Daniels jaw, that was awesome."

Fred saw the sword in Victors hands "Is it true that's a magic sword?"

Victor grinned and held the sword two handed up to his face, Heather saw him press a button on the hilt. The sword turned blue again and hummed, the electrical arcs bounced all over.

"Does it look like magic?"

"Yeah it does." Fred's eyes were like a small boys on Christmas morning, seeing a tree full of presents. "Oh wait till I tell my D&D group about this."

Victor laughed "I should probably tell him before he tells everyone that it's magic, it's not, it's an electrical field generator designed to cut through armor like butter."

Fred looked disappointed "Still pretty damn cool."

"Indeed it is, I once cut a tank in half with this."

"Even cooler."

Katherine, Cassey and Mira barged. Katherine put her hands on her hips and huffed "There you are. Was it really necessary to break his jaw?"

"He took that which isn't his and fired my rifle. He was lucky a broken jaw was all he got."

"Do you know how long it's going to take to smooth this over, all the jocks are gonna be gunning for you now."

"Don't care. Let them come and avenge their friend, I'll be ready."

"I don't know what it's like were you come from, but here we have rules. The first rule being that you can't just fight any one you want!"

"I never cared much for social etiquette." Brittney sniggered at that.

Katherine turned to Brittney and Fred "When did you two show up?"

Fred stepped back not wanting to get caught in any potential fighting between Brittney and Katherine. Brittney spoke "Just a couple of minutes ago, what the hell made you think you could just throw a party in Heathers house without her permission?"

Victor noticed that Mira and Cassey had taken up flanking positions on Katherines side, as if they were her subordinates. Katherine waved them off "I did Heather a favor, the party is going great, everyone knows her now. Unfortunately now they also know you." She pointed at Victor.

Victor spoke up for himself "And that's a problem?"

"Everyone is talking about the laser and that magical sword."

Victor grunted "It's not magic!"

Cassey beat Katherines retort "Can I see it pleeease? I didn't get to see it the first time!" She bent over and scrunched her breast together as if it would have any effect on Victor.

Victor held the sword up once more "Fine, will you stop bothering me if I do?"

Cassey nodded "Mhm."

Victor activated the sword once more for a couple of seconds. Cassey looked like a moth attracted to the light.

Cassey jumped up and down clapping "So it is magical!"

"It's. Not. Magic!" Victor shouted in frustration.

Katherine stepped in front of Cassey "Come on Victor, we got damage control to take care of."

Heather tilted her head, thoroughly drunk "Oh god, what got broken!"

"Just Victors image."

Brittney stepped beside Victor "Can't you see he doesn't care about his image or what people think of him?"

"Exactly, we have to make sure that Victor can show himself in public again." She looked at Victor "Unless you want to stay shut in here all night."

Victor honestly didn't care what drunk teenagers of the party thought of him, he did however, need to use the restroom. He stood up. "Cock it, I have to use the bathroom anyways."

"Good luck, there's a line." Mira told him.

Victor walked out the door, he walked through to the upstairs bathroom, crowds parted for him and whispers followed in his wake. He saw that was a line for the restroom, and from the length of it he determined it would be quite a while before it would reach his turn. Katherine who had left right behind him, was way-layed when a group of dark dressed males with interesting hair syles intercepted her and she was drawn into conversation. Victor decided to try the down stairs one. He was just about to enter the hallway the bathroom was in when two drunken teenagers blocked his path, one was a tall male and had long brown hair and glasses, he wore a designer t-shirt and jean shorts. The second was a short slim female with shoulder length brown hair and had jeans and black t-shirt featuring a yellow smile face. Victor looked past them to see that the downstairs bathroom also had a line. Victor cursed. The female exclaimed in an annoying high pitched voice "Oh shit! You're the guy who punched Daniel! I saw it, and the sword. It glowed, where did you get that?"

Victor looked for an escape route, but a crowd of teenagers had taken up the space he had just come from. Victor was stuck. No he wasn't stuck, he just didn't want to cause any further violence that night. He finally turned to acknowledge the two teenagers who were in his way. "It is a family heirloom." Was all that he replied.

The male looked deep in thought, "I don't recognize that accent, where are you from?"

"Cadia."

"Canada?"

"Cadia, Fortress-world and gate keeper to the eye of terror, located core ward and to the galactic west in Segmentum Obscurus."

Both teenagers looked confused. The male asked "Segmentum Obscurus?" The female cocked her head to the side "Oh my god, you have pretty eyes! Are you wearing contacts?"

Victor grunted his annoyance, the two teens didn't notice "No I am not wearing contacts."

"Then how are your eyes purpled like that."

Victor should really write this down, he was getting tired of explaining it. "It is a mutation that comes with being born so close to the Eye of Terror."

The girl was confused again. The male pointed to his eye. "Where did you get that scar?"

"An alien."

The two burst out in laughter when they finally died down the guy asked again "That was a good one, nah but really where did you get that scar?"

"An alien." Victor repeated.

The male was about to reply when Katherine appeared next to Victor, Cassey and Mira in tow. "He's playin around with you. He's from Europe, and he got the scar from a car accident."

Victor was the one confused now "What's Europe?"

Katherine laughed "Oh Victor, sometimes I think that car accident gave you brain damage as well, come on I've got something I want to show you."

Once Katherine had successfully detached them from the drunken teenagers she pulled him to a quiet spot in the garage, she told the couple who were making out in there to scram. Victor made a mental note of the social influence that Katherine held. The couple left without an argument. She told Cassey and Mira to make sure no one came in.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" She had her hands on her hips again and her tone was that of a mother chiding her child.

"Trying to find a bathroom." Victor replied calmly.

"You can't just go around telling people you're from a different planet! They'll think you're crazy!"

"They think I'm the crazy one? I think you are all crazy."

"We need to work on your cover story."

"I don't need a cover story."

"I'll make one up for you, if people ask just tell them you're from Europe and was in traumatic car accident. It'll hold until we can come up with something more permanent."

Katherine left Victor there and rejoined the party. Victor had had enough of the party and wanted some quiet. Victor exited the garage to the outdoors.

Heather politely declined the advances of a twenty two year old man who had been telling her stories of his service in the National Guard. None of them grabbed her interest and she kept comparing them to the stories Victor told her of the Imperial Guard. She felt like the walls were closing in on her and she was suffocating. She half walked half stumbled out the front door. The fresh air rejuvenated her. A few people were out with plastic cups of drink in their hands chatting idly. The loud beat of the music was muffled and she could hear the insects chirping and squeaking in the night. The heat had died down and it was in the mid-seventies she guessed. She saw Victor out lying on the grass looking up at the stars. Ironically the strangest person she had ever met was the only one she really wanted to be around at the moment. She walked over to where he was lying and sat down next to him, she saw an empty beer can next to him. She looked up to see what he was staring at "What are you looking at?"

Victor replied calmly "The stars, its funny, I have travelled between them all my life but never really took the time to appreciate their beauty. On some planets, the pollution level is so great that the population never sees them come out at night, on Cadia, the night sky is filled with starships and the massive orbital gun-forts. Here, the stars are as clear as the night its self."

Heathers alcohol riddled mind struggled to come up with an appropriate response "They are pretty, it's not as clear here as it was in Kansas, there weren't as many lights and sometimes I would stay out and look at them for a while, I've seen a couple of shooting stars too."

"Once again I am envious of the life you have had, to be able to look up at the stars without fear of what horrors could rain from them at any moment."

Heather didn't know how to respond to that, she had always taken her lifestyle for granted and found the idea of extra-terrestrial life farfetched. Now that she knew better, maybe a fresh outlook on life was in order. She laid down and joined Victor in stargazing, mainly because the alcohol in her demanded that she did so. "Ugh, I've had way too much to drink." She folded her hands across her stomach.

Victor laughed "Lightweight, in the taverns of the planets I have been to, my squad and I would drain entire barrels of ale. The locals would buy us drinks and ask us to entertain them with stories of our most recent victories, usually ones on their planet. We would mingle with off duty soldiers of the planetary defense forces and of other Imperial Guard regiments exchanging stories and speculation of what would come next. I have even had the honor of being invited to drink with a squad of Space Wolves astartes, now that is something I will never forget."

Heather turned her face towards Victor "Who are the Space Wolves?"

"They are one of the more interesting chapters of Astartes, some people think them barbaric and uncouth, I think they just have an exotic culture."

"Astartes?"

"Oh that's right, you people have probably never heard of the Astartes. They are the holy immortal warriors of the Emperor. They are one of the forces that keeps the Imperium from falling apart. None can stand before them."

"Are they really immortal? They never die?"

"Not of old age, one of the Space Wolves that I drank with was over six hundred years old. You think some of the stories I have are crazy, you should hear some of his."

Heathers interest, which for most of the night had been unsatisfied, was finally piqued. "Six hundred years old? I don't believe it."

"You've obviously never met one then. The Astartes are not normal soldiers like I am."

"I never thought you were a normal soldier."

Victor turned his face to meet Heathers, he smiled "I'll take that as a compliment. No the Astartes are above us, we can only look up to them. They are the greatest heroes the Imperium, all mankind in fact, have ever known. They are more than mortal, they are steel and they are doom and they know no fear."

"You make them sound like mythical warriors."

"They are, oh I wish you could see one in the flesh, in their magnificent armour. Most people in the Imperium go their whole lives without seeing one, only hearing the legends and stories of their deeds. I used to draw them during the long transits between campaigns, I will show you some of my better doodles of them later. I would show you the videos I have of them but I doubt you would want to see them, they are brutal warriors and give no mercy on the battlefield. They were created by the Emperor himself to be the perfect fighting men. They travel the stars, fighting where they are needed the most. It is one of the most spectacular things to witness them falling from the sky like the angels of death that they are to grasp victory from was seems like inevitable doom."

Heather crinkled her nose "Created? Are they robots or something?"

"No but they aren't exactly completely human either. Bioengineered super-soldiers is the most simple way to describe them, but that hardly gives them justice. They are organized into chapters each consisting of a thousand battle-brothers. Each chapter of Astartes has its own unique culture and traditions and can draw their lineage back to one of the original twenty legions. In order to understand the Astartes you must know the history of the Imperium, but I will break it down for you. There are three basic things that everyone should know about Astartes."

Victor took a breath. Heather could tell that the drink was getting to him as well, though he held better then she did. "First, all Astartes are brothers. No matter their age, their rank, their chapter, they are all brothers and comrades in arms. You will never see an Astartes fight alone, they fight in squads at the very least and they fight together, as one heart and one blade. Though I imagine that a single Astartes could cause considerable damage on his own as well."

Victor took up the beer next to him and drained what dregs were left in it. "Second, the Astartes answer only to the Emperor. They are his most loyal servants as they are the children of his creation. They do not take orders from Imperium officers though it is not uncommon for them to coordinate their plans with ours. Third, Astartes know no fear, literally. They have had the emotion of fear bred out of them. I don't know how they do it as the process of making an Astartes is shrouded in secret and steeped with religious rituals. Only the most courageous and strongest warriors are deemed worthy to become Astartes and each chapter has its own process or rituals for recruitment. Those are the three things that you must keep in mind if you ever find yourself face to face with one, I doubt you will ever see one here though."

Heather did not know if she believed it or not, aliens were hard enough to accept, but religious and immortal super soldiers now? "I'd like to see them. They sound so weird."

"Like I said, later I will show you what I have."

"Did you see a lot of them?"

"More than my share, they have saved my life more times then I care to admit."

Heather thought for a moment "Do they ever turn bad, like the heretics in your video?"

That caused a subtle but noticeable reaction in Victor. He sat up, dead serious. "Again, to fully understand everything you have to know the complete history of the Imperium, Astartes are the Emperors most loyal subjects and are nigh incorruptible, they make it a point of pride to be so. But when Astartes go bad, they go very bad. I will say no more of the subject."

Victor stood up and retrieved his empty beer can. "I'm going to get another, you want one while I'm inside?"

Heather shook her head. "No, I've had enough for the night." She watched Victor go back inside. The galaxy that Victor describes kept getting stranger and stranger. Half of it sounded like it belonged in a video game the other half in a fantasy movie. And none of it made any sense to her.

Victor went inside. The groups of teens that clogged the hallways and various rooms stepped aside to allow him through, Victor could hear them whispering behind his back. He despised that more than anything, if any of these teenagers had something to say why could they not say it to him directly. He found such behind the back talk distasteful and cowardly. On the way to the fridge Victor saw that the line for the restroom had shortened considerably. He stepped in line behind a lanky teenager wearing a white undershirt, a cap that was pitched to the side and an excessive amount of gold and silver jewelry, he had a beard trimmed into slim lines that formed a square around his face. The teenager turned to Victor "Yo, I saw you out there with that hot chick Heather, she with you or something?"

Victor stared down at the gawky teen. "I did not understand a word of what you just said, speak properly young one."

The teenager looked offended and responded by increasing the volume of his voice "I said, is that hot chick Heather with you?"

Victor grunted and responded indignantly "If by "With me" you mean are we in a relationship then no she is not with me."

"So she's free?"

"Throne of Terra son where did you learn to speak? You talk like an under-hive ganger. She would not be impressed by that speech impediment you seem to have."

"Yo don't be hatin' just cause I picked up everything off the streets dawg. I pull tail left and right! Who you sayin has a speech impediment this Is how we talk in the hood!"

"I have been in under-hives before, where the gangs war over territory frequently and law has no presence, even they speak more clearly than you." Victor honestly didn't understand anything the ganger was saying, he was using too much local lingo for him to decipher.

"Man, I'm gonna go pull that bitch right now, just so i can see the look on yo face when she's beggin me for it!" the ganger then stepped out of line, leaving Victor next for the restroom.

When Victor emerged from the restroom. He trekked to the fridge and grabbed another beer from the many contained within. The local drink on this planet was piss water to what he was accustomed to. He wished he had a cold frothy tankard of Cadian ale right then, or at least some decent amasec. Teenagers stared at him as he walked by, he heard girls giggling behind him and yet more whispering. He wanted out of there. He walked out the front door and heard Heather yelling "Hey creep, leave me alone!"

He heard the scrawny teen from the bathroom line "Come on girl, don't be that way. I'm just tryin to holla."

Victor continued until the two were within sight, Heather was trying to pull away from the drunk ganger wanna-be who had a grip on her arm. There was no one else outside and the music inside would drown out any yells for help. Victor approached calmly to see if he could defuse the situation without any bloodshed.

"Heather, is this young man giving you trouble?" He asked her.

Heather tried to push him away but the ganger maintained a solid grip on her. The ganger looked at Victor "You? Get da fuck outta here, can't you see we busy here?"

Victor took another step forward "Have you no respect for the lady? Let her go now and we will forget all about this."

The ganger spit at Victor which he easily side stepped. He then pushed Heather hard to the ground and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a switch blade that he held up in his hand. He yelled at Heather "Don't you go nowhere hoe, we ain't done yet."

Victor could tell instantly that he was no knife fighter and he tried to dissuade the ganger from violence. "Listen, I've already been in one fight tonight and I don't want to hurt anyone else. You've already let her go, all you have to do is just walk away…" Victor then saw it in his eyes, they were glazed over and his pupils were dilated. Great, he was on narcotics as well as drunk, probably some form of super-stimulant if the way his hands shook were any indication. "I don't know what you're on but this is my last warning, leave her alone and begone."

The ganger took another step and lunged the blade towards Victors face, Victor side stepped easily and grabbed the gangers wrist, he twisted and heard a snap. A broken wrist.

The ganger yelped and grabbed on to his wrist. The knife dropped onto the grass and victor kicked it away into the street. The ganger circled around Victor and charged again, this time his fist shot out in an uppercut aimed at Victors jaw.

Victor kicked out the gangers knee and grabbed on to his arm, twisting and ducking as the ganger fell and using his own momentum from the punch, Victor hurled the ganger clear across the yard. The ganger laid there moaning for a second, and then got up stumbling back and forth. The ganger shouted "Yo when I tell my crew about dis you'll be beggin for mercy, GS19 won't forget about dis! You'll be seeing me again real soon!" He then took off down the street.

Victor ran over to Heather and pulled her to her feet. She immediately embraced him, she was crying onto his shoulder.

Katherine came out a moment later "There you two are, come on were about to start some games inside- what happened to her?" When she noticed Heather.

Victor looked at Katherine. "This party is over."

"What? What happened?"

"This party is over, these people have ten minutes to vacate or they will get a real demonstration of just how magical my sword can be."

"Ok ok, I got it." Katherine ran inside, the music stopped and raised voices could be heard.

"Heather are you ok?"

She stopped crying and detached herself from him. She wiped tears from her eyes "Yeah, ju-just a scrape or two."

Victor waited exactly two minutes for people to start leaving, the only people who came out were Fred and Brittney. They both ran over. Fred saw Heathers tears and a scrape on her arm "What happened? Katherine just came in and started yelling for people to get out. No ones listening to her though."

"Some intoxicated ganger just assaulted her. He was on drugs and decided to fight instead of listen to reason. You two look after her, I will deal with the people inside."

Leaving Heather in Fred and Brittneys care, Victor stormed inside where he saw Katherine arguing with more drunken teenagers. Apparently even one as influential as her couldn't stop a party as popular as this one. Victor walked over to where the argument was place, no longer being subtle, he pushed and tossed aside anyone that was in his way.

"Why are these people not leaving?"

The guy Katherine was arguing with looked Victor up and down "Because we ain't got a reason too, that's why, just kick back man, parties swingin."

Victor didn't get upset, he didn't even raise his voice he simply replied "Very well." And disappeared upstairs.

He returned a moment later brandishing an oversized pistol, everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at it.

Victor held it in the air shouting so that everyone could hear him "Bolter, Godwyn-pattern. When the trigger is depressed a .75 caliber mass-reactive rocket propelled round is fired at supersonic speeds. When the round penetrates a subject it explodes. There is a ninety eight percent kill guarantee. I will count to ten before I find my first "Subject"."

The house emptied before he reached eight.

When the last car skidded out of the drive way, Heather, Brittney and Fred came inside. Katherine, Mira and Cassey had also remained behind at Victors request.

Brittney whistled "Wow, I've never seen a party broken up so fast. What did you do?"

Victor grinned "I simply described the operation and effects of a bolter. They required little encouragement after that."

Mira still had a drink in her hand and took a sip "Were you really going to shoot anyone?"

Victor shook his head "No, I only have so many bolts and would not waste them on unruly drunks. Heather how are you feeling?"

Heather had cleaned herself up and although her face was still red, she looked none the worse. She put on a smile "Better, just a little shaken that's all."

Katherine had picked up a random beer can and after a taste sip, began to drink from it. "So, what happened?" she asked in between sips.

Heather told them about the gangster that came out and tried to hit on her and when she said no he got violent. She told them how Victor had come out just in the nick of time after going in to get more beer and tried to talk the gangster out of it when he pulled a knife on Victor, and the ass kicking Victor gave him.

Victor modestly added "Nothing bad, just a broken wrist and a dislocated shoulder. He was on drugs anyways. Does GS-19 mean anything to any of you, as the ganger ran away he shouted that he was "Going to tell the rest of his crew" and that "GS-19 won't forget about this"

Mira dropped her empty cup. "GS-19 is a gang down in San Francisco. I saw a special on them on Gang Land. Big timers. Supposed to be really violent and hard core drug dealers."

"So we can probably expect a reprisal soon?"

"I don't know, I'm not in a gang!"

"Heather until this dies down, I do not want you to go anywhere without me. Do you understand?"

Heather thought it was sweet that Victor was making himself her personal body guard. "Yes, Mr. Secret service!" The joke was lost on Victor, everyone else got a good laugh out of it though.

The house was in a mess. Beverage cans and plastic cups were everywhere. Victor accompanied Heather as she took inventory to make sure nothing had been stolen or damaged. To her surprise, besides the curtains that now had a hole in them, only a single ceramic coffee mug had been broken, something she could easily make an excuse for.

Katherine checked her cell phone "Well, you guys got this under control right? It's getting late and we gotta get-"

Victor did not allow her to finish "And where do you think you're going? This was your party, you will stay and assist in cleaning."

Victor told Heather to get some sleep. Fred and Brittney volunteered to help clean up. The three girls groined as Victor issued them scrubbing supplies and instructed them to start cleaning stains off the carpet.

Heather found herself sitting in the shower. Tonight was a real wakeup call for her. If Victor hadn't come out when he did…

She did not continue the thought. She owed Victor her innocence and probably her life. But now she was in danger from a big gang that could come back for her at any moment. She almost blamed Victor for giving the gangster such a beating, but no she had seen it herself, he tried to talk him out of it and didn't fight until the ganger drew the knife on him. What if they came back tonight? The next day? In a week? Month? How long would she have to fear for her life?

And suddenly she realized _this is what victor must have felt like his entire life. _Never knowing what would come next, if he would survive the next day or not. To live like that all the time must be and incredible burden.She wondered if he could actually protect her, she had no doubt about his fighting abilities but gangs fought dirty. How would he protect her if he had to leave at the end of the weekend? It was Monday, actually Tuesday morning technically, so she still had five days to figure out something. Heather pushed all her worries aside and tried to clear her mind.

Wrapped in just a towel she went into her room. Her bed was crinkled from all the couples that she had to kick out and she found more than one form of birth control stashed around. It turned out that someone had actually stolen a pair of her panties, her favorite pair in fact, purple with yellow smile face polka dots. She changed into her pajamas and the nights events put her to sleep immediately.

Heather woke up to her alarm going off, it was actually the third or fourth time it had gone off, she just kept hitting snooze. This time she actually sat up and looked at the time, it was 9:30 am. Her head pounded and there was the most disgusting taste in her mouth. _So this is a hangover_ she thought to herself. She somehow managed to make it to the bathroom before she vomited. She got lucky and made it in the toilet. She spent ten minutes scrubbing the taste of vomit and whatever it was that she woke up with out of her mouth. Her head was still throbbing as she walked down stairs and looked at the state of her house.

It was so clean that she was sure that it was dirtier before the party. She walked into the living room and found Katherine Mira and Cassey sleeping on the couch in awkward positions. She almost took a picture of Katherine using Casseys bum as a pillow and Miras feet in Casseys face, but she didn't feel like retrieving her camera. She saw Fred on the second couch, sleeping sitting upright head back and mouth open snoring, Brittney was curled up on his lap. Heather thought it was adorable, but there was still one missing. The sound of a bag full of metal being lifted brought her to the kitchen where Victor was carrying bags of trash out. When he saw her he looked genuinely surprised. "I hadn't counted on you waking for at least another two hours." He told her as he carried out the last bag of trash.

Heathers mind was still in boot up mode but she managed to make the connection. "You've been cleaning all night?"

"Yes, they helped." He motioned in the direction of the living room "Katherine Mira and Cassey had been drinking heavily and punched out about an hour after you went to sleep, Fred and Brittney lasted another hour until I released them."

"And you finished the rest by yourself?" Heather looked in the kitchen, she could not find a single piece of evidence that there was a giant party here last night.

"Yes, I'm a storm-trooper, i am well used to cleaning up other peoples messes."

"Thank you."

Victor waved her off as he replaced the trash bag in the can "No problem, anything I can do to help out."

Heather sat down at the kitchen table rubbing her temples. "No, thank you for everything, for saving me last night, for clearing out the party, and now cleaning it up. Thank you I owe you a lot." She smiled the best she could at him but her headache would not allow it.

Victor poured her a glass of orange juice and slid it in front of her. "Drink the juice, high vitamin content helps with the hang over. As soon as the others show signs of life I will make food." Heather drained the cup of juice and took some Tylenol "How are you still functional? I know for a fact that you drank as much as I did."

Victor simply grinned coyly "This is not the first time I have spent all night drinking and then all morning cleaning up the mess I made."

Heather yawned and poured herself another glass of OJ "So about last night, do you really think that gangster kid is going to cause problems."

Victor sat down across from her at the table "I don't know, I've dealt with underhive gangers before and usually It would be cause for concern, but he was not a underhive-ganger and I have no idea how the gangs of this planet operate. Just to be safe though, I believe you should take some extra safety precautions."

"Like what."

"Do you know any hand to hand or self-defense?"

"Uh, no, I was more into soccer then karate."

"Then I will teach you a few basics. Do you know where the nearest law enforcement is?"

"Uh, no, we just moved here like three days ago, I'm just as new here as you are."

Victor rubbed his chin, it looked like he had just shaved! How did he find time to clean shower and shave? "Well then, it looks like we're going to be spending a lot of time together. I do not plan on letting you get hurt. Not from a ganger."

"That's sweet of you." Heather was flattered.

"There is…another option however."

Heather was already starting to feel better, the headache was subsiding and she felt like she could eat something without spewing it back up. "And what is that other option?"

"Go on the offensive."

That was honestly the last thing she thought he'd say. "Go on the offensive? Against one of the largest gangs in San Francisco? I know you're supposed to be special forces storm trooper and all but don't you think that's a bit over-confident?"

"I've burned… neutralized dozens of heretic cults in my time, dismantling an amateur gang limited to one city I can do in my sleep. And it would be doing the city a service of removing the ganger filth. However since it is your life that's at risk, I will allow you to make the decision."

"Can I make the decision when I'm not hung over?"

Victor laughed the deep throaty laugh of his "Of course, do you want me to make something for you since the others seem to have no intention of waking up anytime soon?"

"Have you eaten yet?"

"I wasn't expecting any one up for another couple of hours, I ate some grain cereal that was in the cupboard, I hope you don't mind. Speaking of which." Victor reached into the pocket of his sweats and pulled out a pair of Heathers panties. They were the ones she was missing. "Would these be those undergarments that you mentioned were missing last night? I found them in a pot under the counter over there." He pointed to where her family kept the cooking pans.

Heather laughed at the oddity of it for so long she had forgotten what the original question was.

Heather eventually ended up making herself some microwavable waffles when she got tired of waiting for the others to wake up. Victor continued his sweeps and inspections to make sure that everything was where it was supposed to be. Heather was impressed by how thorough he was, he didn't leave any little detail over looked.

Brittney and Fred woke up around 10:30 . They grumbled and plopped into the kitchen chairs joining Heather in the hang over club. Victor offered to make them something to eat but Brittney declined, saying that she was going to go over to her house to shower and eat then work on some art projects she had been putting off. Fred had to leave explaining that he had to work the afternoon shift today.

The girls didn't stir until an hour later. They all shambled into the kitchen at the same time. Victor described them as resembling "Plague zombies." Which brought up a whole new set of questions that Heather didn't think she'd want to know the answers to, he offered them a hot meal as well. Katherine answered for all of them saying that they felt gross and needed to clean up. Before they left though Katherine asked Victor if sweats were the only thing he had since that's all that she had seen him wear.

"Yes, I never had civilian clothing and thought to purchase some when I arrived on planet. However since this is not an Imperial planet, and my pension will not be honored, I have no money to buy clothes with."

Katherine put on her sunglasses, even though she was already in the shade, and inside. "Mira, you're going buy Victor some real clothes later on after we get cleaned up."

Mira looked confused "I am?"

"Yes dear, you are. I know for a fact you could buy him a whole weeks' worth of outfits without even denting your allowance." Katherine lowered her shades as she faced Victor "Were taking you clothes shopping at the mall, Heather your welcome to come along too." It was a statement, not a question. Katherine then raised her shades back over her eyes and closed the front door behind her.

Victor scratched his head "What's a mall?"

There was no way that Heather was staying in the house alone after last night, and it wouldn't hurt to get out some. She had been stuck in the house since she moved here, save for that eventful night in the park. Heather went upstairs to change out of her pajamas. Picking out a loose green polo shirt and some jeans with flip flops that she had all but forgotten about.

Brittney came over about forty five minutes later, Heather told her how apparently the girls were taking Victor clothes shopping and he was getting free clothes out of it. Brittney commented that it should be interesting if anything else.

Victor came down from his room with a brown paper folder. He greeted Brittney asking how she felt. "Much better, thanks. Whats in there?"

"Heather, remember I promised to show you the pictures of the Astartes I have? Well I figured now was as good a time as any."

Brittney shot a look to Heather "Astartes?"

Heather had forgotten about it until he reminded her. "You gotta have him explain it to you. Apparently they're super soldiers."

"Oh really?"

Victor laid down the folder on the kitchen counter. "I'll let you judge for yourselves. Ever since the first time I saw one, drawing them became sort of a hobby, don't make fun of my artistic talent, or lack there of."

Brittney grabbed the folder "I fancy myself an artist lets have a looksee."

Brittney pulled out a stack of loose leaf papers. Her expression changed, Heather couldn't tell if it was good or bad. All she said was "Oh, wow."

Heather tried to peer over on to the papers "Well?"

"I have…I've never…You say these guys are real?"

"Yes. That particular one is battle-brother Veronor, Lycastor squad, fifth company, Ultramarines chapter. Battle for Mithron."

Heather was impatient, she wanted to see. "Lemme see!"

Brittney flipped to the next one and her eyes bulged "No way, you drew this?"

"Yup, magnificent aren't they?"

"I've never seen anything like them! These are the good guys right?"

"They are the will of the Emperor made manifest, his retribution made flesh."

"They're so big!"

Heather frowned and waved her arms "Hello? Can I see maybe please?"

Brittney took the one that she was looking and handed it to Heather.

Heather looked down at the pencil drawing.

"Oh." Was all she could say. She didn't know how to describe the being she was looking at, the sketch was superb, Victor was a skilled artist as well a soldier. The Astartes was massive, she almost wanted to call it a futuristic robo-knight but that still wouldn't have come close. It's chest plate featured the skull and wings that Heather saw on a lot of Victors equipment as well, on its shoulder was an upside down omega. Its helmet featured a massive snarling grille over its mouth and its eyes expressed fury like she had never seen. On random parts of its armor papers were affixed on wax seals. On its back was a back pack featuring heat and exhaust vents, she guessed it was the generator that powered its armor.

"So these are the astartes."

"Some planets call them Space marines."

"That's a lot easier to say than Astartes."

"I prefer astartes, it adds to their fearsome reputation."

"jumping jehova… he looks like he wants to rip my head off."

"Seen them do that, not pleasant. Never get between angry astartes and whatever their objective is. You're likely to end up a bloody smear on the ground."

Brittney flipped to the next picture. "These guys look fucked."

"How so?"

"Well for starters, their surrounded. I like how you added the flag bearer in the middle of the circle. And the battle effects are pretty good, you got some potential."

"Thank you, but they are not fucked, that is how astartes fight best. They drop from the sky in orbital drop pods right onto the battle field and then they slaughter everything. They attack so quickly and swiftly that often one strike is all it takes for them to win a battle. Do not underestimate them."

Heather looked down at the snarling super soldier. She was glad that she would never see one in the flesh.

Brittney hung around for an hour because she had nothing better to do. When asked if she wanted to go with them to the mall she laughed and said "Not with those barbies." And when Katherine called to tell them that she was on her way, Brittney returned to her house.

When Heather heard Katherines Mustang pulling into her drive way she excitedly greeted them. It was already two in the afternoon and Katherine wasted no time in herding both of them into the car. The girls were as always dressed in matching outfits of strapless tube tops and short skirts. Heather felt almost out of place with them in her conservative outfit and Victor looked like a bum in his sweats to them. Before she knew it she found herself wedged in between Victor and Cassey in the back seats. Victor struggled to find a comfortable spot while trying not to invade Heathers personal space but there simply wasn't enough room. Cassey found it amusing "She doesn't have cooties. If you're worried about touching her you can sit next to me, I won't mind."

Victor ignored the comment asking Katherine how far away the shopping complex was.

"It's called a mall, and it about twenty minutes away so get comfortable."

"I have not been this cramped since the last time I flew in an overloaded dropship."

"Hey you know, most guys would enjoy being crammed in a car with a bunch of girls."

"I am not most guys."

"That's pretty obvious."

Katherine turned on the cars stereo system, filling it with annoying pop music that Heather tried to tune out. Victor face filled with disdain at the noise "Ugh what is that racket."

Cassey leaned forward "Its Justin Bieber, he's so cute!"

"Is all music on this planet this annoying?"

"It's not annoying! He's singing about his love and compassion for…uh stuff!"

"He sounds like he hasn't even reached manhood yet."

"That's because he's our age."

"No wonder, you young ones and your weird emotions. This would not pass for music on Cadia."

Cassey crossed her arms and took an offended tone "If the musics like you, then I wouldn't want to listen to emotionally dead songs!"

Victor grunted "On the contrary, our music fills us with passion! Great symphonies and choirs accompanied by booming drums and horns to inspire and remind us that we are blessed and fight for a righteous cause."

Mira scoffed "Is everything where you come from centered around war? You gotta ease up."

"You would not understand. My people are proud warriors and have guarded the Imperium from the Eye of Terror for millinia, who are you to pass such hasty judgment on us?"

"Well, have you ever tried to give peace a chance?"

"Right so the next time Abaddon the Despoiler, Emperor curse his name, and his unholy forces of chaos set out on another of their accursed Black Crusades we'll just invite him to have tea and biscuits. I don't see how that could possibly go wrong."

"Ok ok I get the point. Abaddon the Despoiler eh? How did he earn that name?"

"By being one of the most evil sons of bitches this galaxy has ever known. He is the cause for trillions of deaths and is one of the largest threats to the Imperium."

"Sounds like quite a guy."

The argument continued until they reached the mall. The parking lot was filled and they had to drive for ten minutes before they found a vacant spot. As they piled out Victor pointed out that society here over-emphasized clothing and voiced his distaste of all the teenagers that were packed in the three story shopping complex saying "It's trouble waiting to happen." He also pointed out the overwhelming female to male ratio. Cassey explained it to him as only she could "We're girls, we like to look pretty. Get over it."

The Central Park mall was a high-end clothing orientated mall that was definitely designed with the thirteen to twenty five year old female age group in mind. It also featured several men's designer stores and outlets. They entered through a store called Macy's and when Victor saw all the clothing and clothing accessories his jaw dropped. "Look at all these clothes…this kind of extravagance is usually reserved for rich high born nobles!"

Katherine called for a group huddle and they all formed a circle. Katherine asked for ideas of where to go first. Mira suggested the Tommy Hillfigure outlet on the other side of the mall. Cassey was distracted by a particularly shiny set of ear rings nearby. Heather remained silent, she was not particularly fashion gifted and decided it would be best to it to the professionals. Katherine did not allow Victor any input into the process. So Tommy Hillfigure was the agreed upon first.

Katherine took lead and the group followed, they walked until they reached an indoor courtyard with a fountain near which several groups of teens were gathered. Katherine stopped the group when she saw a certain teen couple holding hands near the fountain. "Oh my god, Cassey is that Jason?"

Cassey stepped forward and exclaimed "That is Jason! And he's with Marina Hyler!"

Mira joined them "That sleeze, you broke up with him only last week!"

Katherine stepped into the middle of the group "I won't let him do that to you Cassey." She pulled out her cellphone and searched through the numbers. When she found the appropriate number she hit call.

Heather heard a voice answer. Katherine continued "Hi, this is Carla from Planned Parenthood, is Marina available?"

She heard a confused negative response from whoever was on the phone.

Katherine went on "Well when she gets back can you tell her to give me a call, her test results came back in and we have a lot to discuss thank you and have a nice day." Katherine triumphantly hit the end call button and tucked the phone back into her cleavage. "Now watch the fireworks girls."

Marinas cell phone started to ring. She pulled herself away from the boy and answered. Heather could hear the mothers fury from where she was standing.

Mira clapped "Katherine you're a genus!"

Katherine smiled. "I know dear, I know." She then looked around "Where'd Victor go?"

Victor was standing inside a store called Hot Topic. It was filled with angst filled clothing and other weird merchandise. He walked over to a set of clothes that featured metal studs and chains. He picked it up to examine it more closely. He snickered to himself "So this is where death-cults get their outfits from."

A young teenager, no older then fifteen, approached Victor as he examined the clothing. He had long hair that was dyed three different colors and rings in his nose and lip and was wearing a similar outfit to the one that Victor was examining "You like it?"

Victor shook his head "No, to many pointless chains and metal accessories."

"They shout out who you are and let people know you don't want to deal with any of their bullshit."

Victor chuckled "I am perfectly capable of letting people know when I don't want to deal with their bullshit without these ridiculous clothes. Wallowing in self-induced depression accomplishes nothing."

The young man started to anger. "What do you know of what it's like to be a teenager these days? You don't know what pressure we gotta deal with!"

Victor laughed so hard he almost ran out of breath. He finally turned to face the young teenager staring down at him and making direct eye contact. The young teenager gasped when he saw the scar. "Young man would you like me to tell you what I was doing when I was your age?"

Victor didn't give the kid a chance to respond "I was sent into the great northern forest with a squad of my peers. Where I come from the forest are filled with bandits and dangerous beasts but we were sent on patrol into them in order to harden ourselves and to learn to do what must be done. We were ambushed by those bandits and many of my friends fell that day. I don't know what pressures you feel you are under son, but I would have loved to have grown up with only other peoples bullshit to worry about. And get a haircut, you look like a slob."

Victor heard Katherine behind him "Found him! Victor! what did I tell you about talking about that kind of stuff?"

The teenager backed off and quickly left. Victor looked at Katherine "I do not shy from who I am, I will not lie about my past because it inconveniences you."

Katherine put her hand to her face and rubbed the bridge of her nose "Whatever, just try not to scare anymore small kids."

Katherine dragged him to rejoin the rest of the girls. Mira asked where he was. Katherine shot an evil eye to Victor "He was in Hot Topic telling people to get haircuts."

Heather couldn't contain herself and giggled. Katherine started to walk on "Come on let's get moving."

They stopped at a men's clothing store that featured pictures of attractive athletic males with shirts opened to reveal muscular bodies. Victor pointed at them "Look at them, not a single scar or mark on them! They have obviously did not have to work hard to achieve those figures."

Cassey pointed out that they were models, and were supposed to be perfect. Victor responded "Perfection is only achieved through effort and pain, and it looks like they have had little of either."

Heather compared her mental image of his body to the models. She found that she had to agree with him, while the models were extremely attractive to her, there muscular bodies just seemed fake whereas Victor had fought to earn every muscle he had, not just spending hours in the gym every-day, but through actual work and hardship. It made a world of a difference to her.

Katherine pulled them inside before the argument could continue. The three girls then split off, each one searching the store for clothes they wanted Victor to try on, Heather stayed with Victor, she wanted to see what the girls would pick out for him. Cassey returned with a shirt and told Victor to try it on. Victor took off his shirt right there and handed it to Heather to hold for him. Cassey, along with several other store occupants just stared as he grabbed the shirt she wanted him to wear. Mira was nearby with a pair of pants and yelled "Not here! In the changing rooms!" When Victor had gone into the changing room, Cassey told Heather "I should have told him to try on some pants first."

They spent an hour in the store. The girls would assemble outfits for him and then send him to the changing room and when he emerged they would pass judgment. He complained constantly of the quality of the clothes that they picked out. "This shirt is too small! The sleeves feel like they are going to rip." And "These pants feel like they are going to fall down, they require a belt." Being the most common.

Heather was allowed to join in the judgment and found that Victor was pretty hot in the right clothes. She especially liked outfits that complimented his violet eyes and even picked out a couple of shirts that did so. Only one of which was accepted by the other girls and put into the keep pile.

When Victor had finally had enough of playing dress up, they brought the outfits to the front counter. The total came out to be almost three hundred dollars. Katherine assured Heather that three hundred dollars wasn't even a weeks allowance for Mira, whose father was a genus stock broker, and that she was possibly the richest girl in their age group.

The process was repeated in the shoe shopping selection. Victor began to add comical poses as he tried on various foot wear and eventually a pair of Nikes and some running shoes were added to the clothes.

The rest of the Afternoon was spent shopping for clothes themselves. They made Heather try on various dresses and outfits. Using the same process for her that they used on Victor they developed a small wardrobe of clothes for all of them. Heather found herself strangely looking for Victors approval first when she stepped out of the changing area, which he would give in either a nod or shake his head for a negative.

They introduced Victor to Italian food in the form of Pizza to which he noted on how greasy the food was. He had an interesting reaction to soda after taking a sip and then spraying all over the place and rambling on about how could people drink something that fizzled in their mouth. When they finally left the mall it was almost nine in the evening and Victor was carrying bags and boxes that stacked past his head.

The ride back was uneventful as Victor had nodded off. Heather didn't blame him as she knew he had been up all night cleaning up after the party. When his head fell on her shoulders she didn't push him off.

It was dark when Katherine dropped them off in Heathers driveway, Katherine stuck her head out the window and yelled "Toodles!" as she drove down the street. Victor was carrying all the bags and boxes. Heather had turned and started walking up the drive way when they came out of hiding from the sides of the house.

It was the gangster, and he had brought his friends.

"I told ya I'd be back bitch!" He yelled out as he and his crew surrounded the two. It was dark and no one was in sight.

Heather freaked. She didn't think they would be back so soon. If they came back at all. She watched the gang members form a circle around her and Victor. None of them dressed the same but they all had blue bandannas tied around their faces. Two of them were white, four of them were black and there was one Hispanic. Heather tried to form words but only a panicked mewling came out.

Victor dropped the bags, scattering them all over the driveway. He quickly assessed the situation. There were seven of them, three of them had knives, two had metal pipes and the other two carried wooden bats.

Nothing serious.

"Seven hostiles, improvised weapons. Stay behind me, get inside first chance you get." He whispered to Heather.

The gangster from the party initiated the fight "Yo lets fuck'em up."

One of the gangsters charged Victor head on, the gangster slashed out high with his knife but Victor ducked under and hammered his fist into the gangsters sternum, he then lashed out with a kick in the chest that sent him flying across the lawn. The two with metal pipes ran after him next both had the pipes raised over their heads leaving themselves completely open. Victor kicked high and his foot connected with one of the gangsters faces, the gangster crumpled on to the pavement. The other brought down the pipe but Victor had grabbed on to his wrist and pulled him over his shoulder, the gangster landed with a loud thud on the driveway and Victor brought his elbow down on the gangsters face. Blood splattered and the gangster cried out in pain at his broken nose. Victor narrowly avoided the wooden bat that one of the gangsters had tried to swing at him aiming for his face. Victor pivoted to meet the bat attacker and sent a lightning fast punch that connected with the gangsters adams apple. As the gangster stumbled back gagging Victor saw the second bat wielder charging forward while already mid swing, he grabbed the first bat attacker and pulled him forward, his comrades attack that was meant for Victor hit him instead, the bat breaking across his back with a loud crack. Victor tossed aside the limp gangster that had intercepted the bat and broke the others right knee with blow from his foot. The gangster fell on to the knee and tried to crawl backwards but Victor brought his foot down on his neck. There was a wet crack. Broken neck. Victor felt no remorse for him. That only left two more. They hesitated. One of them was the gangster from the party.

Victor pointed at them "Are you finished? Or shall I provide further demonstration of how I deal with such cowardly attacks"

The two looked at each other and then at the broken bodies of their friends. They wisely started dragging away those that were unconscious, the rest of them got up and ran. They dragged the wounded into a van that was parked across the street and escaped into the night.

Heather couldn't believe that it was already over. The fight had lasted less than a minute and in that time Victor had laid out five of their attackers. She was in shock. She couldn't move or think. All she could do was just stand there. There were pools of blood on the drive way and their bags of clothes still sat where Victor dropped them.

Brittney ran out of her house "What the hell happened! Are you two ok!"

Victor was about to respond when Heather saw a black sedan that was parked across the street roll down its window, something stuck out of it. _Oh god_ Heather thought. All she had time to do was scream.

Everything moved in slow motion to her, time was blurring. Brittney pointing and yelling. Victor turning towards her.

Then they opened fire. Even though it was a rapid fire submachine gun, Heather could hear every shot. The muzzle flash lite up the night. Victor pulled her towards him and wrapped himself around her, shielding her from the gunfire. Dirt kicked up all around her and she continued to scream.

And then it stopped. The black car sped off just as the van did. Heather felt warm liquid running down her leg. _Oh god, did I just wet myself? _She thought. She reached down and felt it. She brought the hand up to her face and it was covered in blood. Victor fell to the pavement.

It started to rain, as if the weather had witnessed the drive by as well and was reacting accordingly.

Brittney ran over to them, hopping the fence between their houses. Some of the lights in the surrounding houses flickered on. A couple of heads poked out of their front doors. Heather started shaking but could not move on her own violation. Brittney reached her. She looked at Victor and shouted at Heather to help her get him inside. Heather looked down at him, a large blood spot growing on the left side of his stomach. Blood was pooling on the pavement.

They both screamed when Victor flipped himself over so he was lying on his back. A large bloody spot also visible on the front of his shirt. He then called out to them his voice weak and ragged "Get….me on…my feet."

Heather didn't move, it was Brittney who took his outstretched hand and pulled him up. She wrapped her arm around his shoulder to keep him steady. "Don't die, please don't die." She kept saying.

Victor coughed up blood. "Me…die…not here. Inside…hurry."

Brittney shouted again "Heather! Help!"

Heather heard it, but still could not move. The flash of the gunfire still in her eyes.

Victor could still walk, and with Brittneys help, he made it inside. He made it to the kitchen before he collapsed on the floor. Brittney was frantic "What...what do I do?"

More blood trickled from Victors mouth he reached up and grabbed Brittneys shoulder "Upstairs…my bag…medicae kit…and book…of faith…just…incase." Brittney ran upstairs. She opened up Victors bag and poured out everything. She saw a small plastic box with the universal red cross on it she grabbed it, it was pure coincidence that the Book of faith was on top of it, she grabbed that too. She ran back down as fast as she could almost falling down the stairs in the process. Victor was still lying there in a pool of his own blood. She opened the first aid kit and gave it to him. She also left the book at his side. She stood up "I'm going to call for help!" Victors face was starting to lose color. He grabbed on to her ankle as she went for the phone. "No…Get Heather."

Heather was still knelling on the pavement. The rain had increased and had washed the blood off the pavement. She watched the pink water circle around the sewage drain. She heard sirens coming but didn't care. No thought would form in her mind. Brittney was suddenly in her face. Yelling loudly, but it wouldn't move her, nothing would move her. Brittney slapped her hard on the face.

Heather woke up. "Wha…"

Brittney shook her and pulled her up "He's dying! Help me!"

They both ran back inside. Victor had not touched the first aid kit. Instead he had opened the Book of Faith to a specific page. He was pale now. He held out the book in trembling hands. "Abolishment…read it…please." Heather took the book but would not read "No, no no no no, your not gonna die, don't die."

"Read…it."

Heather looked at the page that he had opened to, on the page was a passage called the prayer of abolishment. She read it, sobbing the whole way through. "And the Emperor shall gather his martyrs unto him, that he may declare their courage and righteousness. And he will bid them to sit at his side until the end of all time. And when the end of time comes, he will lead them in the final battle, the battle that will cleanse all evil from the realms and create a paradise in which life will start anew." She finished. She knelt down and grabbed his hand. It was cold.

"One hundred…thirty years…in the guard…two days…on this rock." He closed his eyes and died.

Brittney broke down and started crying.

Heather wasn't going to let him die. No, he had saved her life twice now, she had to at least try. In years past she had been a girl scout once, and they had drilled CPR into her mind so much that she actually remembered to use it on him. She began to pump his chest.

Victor was in a cavern, or temple, or even a palace. He couldn't tell. Reality blurred into something ether-real. He looked about and saw grand statues, larger than most buildings. He recognized them. The Primarchs. The sons of the Emperor. He saw Robout Gulliman in his splendor. There, Sanguinus, the lord of angels.

Horus, the arch-traitor.

They were all there. Loyalist and traitor alike. Magnus the red. Rogal Dorn. Leman Russ. Lorgar. Corax. Angorn. All of them.

They were all in a circle, they stared down at him. Victor tried to find the ceiling of the place he was in, but his eyes could not see that far. He suddenly remembered Heather, the gunfire. The red hot impact on his body. He was dying. He knew where he was now.

The Eternity Gates.

He was here at long last. His soul would be weighted and judged by the God-Emperor himself. Victor had lived out his entire life in preparation for this moment. The creaking of vast doors caused him to turn around. He saw a magnificent archway, tall as a mountain. Great golden doors with the holy Aqualia proudly displayed on them began to creep open. A blinding golden light shone through. This was it.

A voice spoke, it was just a whisper but it contained power to move planets. There was no doubt whom the voice belonged to. It spoke to his core, his very being. It said to him just two perfect words.

"_Not yet_."

Victor opened his eyes and was staring into Heathers dark green eyes. He gasped for breath and felt pain. He remembered it, he remembered the words. He reached up and felt Heathers face, to make sure it was real. She put her hands on top of his. He heard another voice, Brittneys, shouting "He's alive! He's alive!" Victor tried to sit up but the pain in his abdomen flared and Heather pushed him back down. He looked in her green eyes and realized the beauty in them, just as beautiful as she was. Victor opened his mouth and said "He spoke to me."

Heather stroked his cheeks, he saw the tears on her face and the redness "Shh Victor, be quiet." His memory flooded back to him now. "My first kiss…the kiss of life." And oblivion over took him.

Heather started to cry in joy. The CPR worked, he was alive again. He was unconscious but alive.

Brittney wiped her sleeve across her face. "Ok thank god, he's back what do we do now?"

Heather had no idea, she had never treated anything worse than a deep cut before. A bullet wound was beyond her. She then had an epiphany, she remembered the _Imperial Infantrymen's Uplifting Primer_ and by pure chance had stumbled upon the instructions for treating bullet wounds. Brittney shouted "Where are you going?" as she ran back up the stairs and into the guest bedroom. She saw all of Victors belongings dumped on the floor and after some digging around found the old book under some of his clothes. She hurried back downstairs flipping through the book to find that section again.

"Here! Instructions on how to treat a bullet wound in the abdomen."

Brittney took the book from her, her bloodied hands leaving finger prints all over it. "How did you know?"

Heather shrugged "I just did."

They followed the instructions carefully and managed to stop the bleeding. They laced the wounds with disinfectants. They applied pressure and put the bandages on from Victors first aid kit just as the book told them too. They had stabilized him at least but now they needed help. Brittney called Fred and told him to get his ass over there pronto. Heather called Katherine and said she needed help. Katherine said she would be over right away.

Katherine and the girls arrived first. They had gathered the bags of clothes from the drive way and brought them in. Mira grabbed her stomach "Oh god, there's blood everywhere." There was a very bloody path leading from the front door to the kitchen where Victor laid in a puddle of his own life fluid. They all walked into the kitchen where Victor was still unconscious. Cassey ran to the sink and retched. Katherine turned a little green but managed to keep her dinner down. "Ok, so from the top. What happened."

Brittney stood up and jabbed a finger at Katherines chest "He saved her life that's what happened, this would never have happened if *You* hadn't thrown that stupid fucking party last night"

Katherine pushed Brittney away from her "My fault? How was I supposed to know that creep would come! I don't even know him!"

Heather stood in between them before it could get any worse. _How could it get any worse_ she thought. "Enough! We gotta do something. We stopped the bleeding and there were two wounds, so the bullet went through-"

Cassey covered her mouth and shock took over her face "Oh my god! He got shot! Who shot him."

Brittney wiped the blood from her hands onto her shirt "That GS-19 guy from last night came back with a bunch of his friends, He fought them off but then they shot him in a drive by."

"Holy shit, what happened here" Fred had arrived and saw the blood trail from the front porch to the kitchen.

Cassey shouted at him "Victors been shot!"

"By who?"

"That gangster."

"Oh noes! Is he alive?"

Heather washed her hands in the sink that Cassey had retched in as she said to Fred "Barely, he actually died but I brought him back with CPR."

"Well, what do we do now?"

"We should get him upstairs into bed." Suggested Katherine

Mira held up her hand to stop her "No, I know enough to know that you never move an injured person, we should really call 911."

Brittney shouted "And tell them what, that an alien from another planet got shot by a bunch of gangsters from San Francisco? Look, he has no ID, no papers, no money, just a bunch of weird ass gizmos, scars and tattoos. How do we explain that!"

Cassey countered "Why would we need to, it's not like we shot him!"

Heather once again broke up the argument "One thing at a time! First thing first, let's get him off the floor. Then we need to clean up all this blood in case the cops come around here. Katherine, use my computer in my room, look up on the internet on how to move some one whos been shot. Everyone else we gotta clean this up ASAP."

Katherine disappeared to research upstairs. Everyone else began to clean. Cassey and Mira swabbed the linoleum kitchen and wooded panel hall way areas. Fred Brittney and Heather tackled the few carpeted areas that were stained.

Heather excused herself for a moment to use the bathroom. She stood in front of the mirror, her clothes were ruined, covered in his blood. She had blood on her face from where Victor had touched her. She put her hand on top of it. She held it there for a moment. He had died for her, he had taken the bullet meant for her and he died because of it. He hadn't even been here three days and he had saved her life twice already, and then she had saved him. She still was in his debt, a debt she could never repay. She cried, lost in a series of events that she had no control over. She then remembered his words from yesterday morning. "When the time comes, I know you will do the right thing." But what was the right thing to do? Should they call for help and reveal his secret to the world? Should they try to nurse him back to health alone? She thought of the first words he said back from death "He spoke to me." Who spoke to him? She shook her head to rid herself of these idle thoughts. She washed the blood off her face and went back downstairs to finish cleaning up the blood.

Brittney remarked that this was probably the most work the girls had done in their entire lives. The house was somewhat clean and aside from a few stubborn stains, there was no way to tell that the house contained a man with two holes in him in it. Katherine found that as long as they didn't disturb the wound, they could move him. She had also read that they needed to keep the wound as clean as possible washing it a few times a day and changing the bandages when they were dirty. Katherine and the girls left to go to a 24/7 Wal-Mart to get more bandages and medical supplies, leaving Heather Fred and Brittney to get Victor upstairs into bed.

They removed Victors bloody clothes and Heather washed off the caked blood from around the wounds with alcohol pads from his kit.

Fred looked at Victor "So how is this going to work?"

Heather grabbed one of Victors arms. "Grab the other, well pull him to his feet and drag him upstairs."

Fred grabbed his other arm and together they yanked him up "Ouff! He's heavier then he looks"

Brittney had to help them get him up the stairs, they moved one step at a time and it took them almost fifteen hard minutes to get him in bed. They laid him on top of the covers. Brittney looked at the blood soaked bandages. "Those will stain the covers."

Blood stained covers were the least of Heathers concern right now "We'll worry about that later. What do we do now."

Brittney shrugged, Fred shook his head. Heather looked back down on Victors body "Don't die again, please."

Victor woke. He fluttered his eyes clearing them of gum and looked up at the ceiling. He recognized that he was back in the guest bedroom on the bed. He sat up ignoring the pain in his torso. Mira was sleeping in a chair at the bed side, her feet resting on the bed and her head slouched to the side, her glasses were on and had fallen down on her nose. He swung himself off the bed grunting as the pain flared. He was only in his undergarments and he looked down at the wound. It was bandaged but he could feel that the wounds were still open, he would need to stich them shut. He got to his feet and stumbled forward knocking into the wall.

Mira stirred, rubbing her eyes "You're awake!"

Victor regained his composure before he responded "How long was I out."

Mira stood up, stretching. "All night." She checked her cellphone "It's ten in the morning."

Victor chuckled "It seems I overslept then."

"We took turns watching you all night, everyone's still here. I'll go get them."

Victor tried to bend over to grab a pair of shorts that he had acquired from the shopping spree at the mall, but the pain refused his efforts. "Hand me some clothes if you don't mind."

Mira looked him up and down, a wily grin on her face "I wouldn't mind you as you were, and I'm pretty sure I caught Cassey looking down your underwear when it was her turn for watch." She handed him the shorts that he had been attempting to reach.

Mira left to alert the rest as he tried to put the shorts on, it was difficult and he had to sit on the bed to do it but eventually he managed to get them on. A moment later everyone came in. They were all in sleep garb and they surrounded the bed that he was sitting on. They had obviously just woken up. Before they could assault him with questions he asked them "Any trouble while I was resting?"

Brittney yawned as she replied "No, the cops were going around door to door asking if anyone knew what happened, when they came here the rain had washed away all the blood outside and we cleaned up the inside, we told them that all we heard was the drive by and they believed us. Other than that, it's been quiet."

He nodded in acknowledgment "I see that you have treated my wounds. I am humbled to have such care given to me. Though further treatment is required."

"You saved my life, it was the least we could do. How are you feeling." Heather asked.

"Well enough now that I had a full night's sleep. Heather you brought me back from deaths embrace, I am in your debt."

Heather blushed "You saved me, I had to try. I'm just thankful that the girl scouts taught us CPR."

Victor rose to his feet, uneasy but under his own power. "You once told me that everyone's first kiss should be special, I don't think I will ever forget mine. Thank you for giving a first kiss that I will cherish for all time."

Heather blushed even more. "So what are you gonna do now?"

Victor probed his bandaged wounds. "First I must recover, your first aid is commendable, but incomplete. The wounds will need to be closed before they can fully heal. I will require a sewing kit."

Cassey looked grossed out "You're going to sew them shut?"

"Yes, I've done it before. However, I cannot reach the wound on my back, I will require assistance for it."

They all started looking at each other, no one wanted to do it. Finally Heather stepped forward. "I'll help, you'll have to tell me what to do though."

Victor sat down on the bed, holding his hand over the wound "Once again, I am in your debt. I will need to close it as soon as possible, i will need a sewing kit, bandages, a lighter, and some towels. Also I will need to improvise an intravenous delivery system with a salt and water solution to compensate for the blood loss."

"I have a good sewing kit at my house." Brittney announced and left to retrieve it.

Katherine adjusted her pajama shorts. "How the hell do we improvise an I.V.?"

Heather had an idea "I saw this in a movie once, we use a water bottle, some plastic tubing and a marinating needle. The water bottle and marinating needle I have but I don't know where we can get plastic tubes from."

Fred stuck his hands in his pockets "Well, I can go run to Wal-mart if need be, if they don't have it there's a Home Depot and a Low's home improvement right across the street."

"Good thinking, Fred. Why don't you go, we'll stay and make breakfast for everyone." Heather told him.

Cassey looked excited "I'm a good cook! Come on, Mira. I'll show you how to make some yummy omlettes and pancakes!"

Which left Heather and Katherine in the room. Katherine starting texting on her cellphone and sat on the chair that Mira had been sleeping on. Heather sat down next Victor. "So, when you came back you said "He spoke to me." It's been bothering me, who spoke to you? Do you remember anything from when you were dead?"

Victor smiled "All I remember is the voice. It was so perfect, so full of power that even in death I could not forget it. There is no doubt as to who it was."

Katherine was intently listening and stuffed her phone back into her shirt. "Who was it?"

Victor stood up for effect "The God-Emperor."

"So your saying god spoke to you."

"The God-Emperor, and yes."

"What did he say."

"Not yet."

"Not yet what."

"Not yet, that's what he said."

"What happened after he said that?"

"I woke up and was staring into Heathers eyes. I finally realized how beautiful they are." Heather blushed for the third time that morning.

"This would make a good movie." Katherine continued "An alien come to ea-"

"Off-worlder!"

"Right, an off-worlder comes to earth, takes on a bunch of gangers, gets hurt saving the girl and haves a vision from god during a near death experience."

"I didn't say I saw a vision, I only remember the voice."

"Right so how are you gonna end it."

"The gangers have attacked Heather while she was under my protection. My honor demands that I settle this. I am going to take the fight to them once I have healed."

Heather put her hand on his shoulder "Victor you're in no condition to fight anyone."

"Once I have healed. What I said yesterday still stands. I will not go without your blessing, but it is in every ones best interest if I end this now. We have the advantage, they think I am dead."

Heather thought for a moment "Do you really think you can do it?"

"Unleash me and I will visit such retribution upon them that they will regret ever stepping foot near you."

Katherine interjected "That's crazy, you can't take on a whole gang! There's probably hundreds of them, how would you even find them?"

Victor faced down Katherines objections "I have hunted and rooted out heretic cults that have operated in secret for centuries. I am familiar with the way that gangers operate and have extensive experience in terror tactics. This isn't the first time that I have faced organized crime."

Katherine didn't back down "If you go on a killing spree then the police will catch you and you'll end up in jail or even get the death penalty!"

Victor did not get upset and replied calmly "They will not, I have spent months behind enemy lines being hunted by professionals with support from armed forces without being caught. If the heretics and xenos could not catch me with their sorcery and advanced technology what hopes do the law enforcement of this planet have?"

Heather cocked her head to the side "Wait did you just say sorcery?"

"Yes, but that is for another time. I would have the advantage and they would not be able to trace it back to you but the choice is ultimately yours."

Heather looked down at the floor. "I'll have to think about it."

Katherine turned to Heather "Heather, how can you! I know you upset about the attack, I can understand that but think of all the people he's gonna kill!"

"I will only target the gang, there will be no collateral damage, I assure you."

"It's still murder!"

"They made the opening strike, they started this. They intended to murder Heather last night. To back down now would be foolish and weak."

Heather didn't know how to respond, she didn't know if she could handle all the blood on her hands. "I don't know well figure this out after you've healed."

They all went down stairs where Cassey and Mira were cooking breakfast. Cassey had made stacks of homemade pancakes and Mira was making an omlette for everyone. Cassey had donned an apron and reminded Heather of Martha Stewart.

Victor sniffed the air "The food smells delicious."

Cassey turned away from the stove with a bowl of batter in her hands "Thank you! They should be done in ten minutes or so."

Brittney entered from the front door a small leather box in her hand. "Sorry it took me so long, it took a bit of digging to find, what smells so good?"

Cassey shouted out "Breakfast!"

"Huh, never figured you knew how to cook."

"I love cooking and baking."

"Like a good little Barbie."

Heather chided Brittney "Brittney, don't start this now, we've got enough on our hands without this grudge you two have."

Brittney shrugged "Right, I apologize Cassey that was uncalled for."

"Uh huh, whatever." Cassey replied and returned back to her cooking.

Fifteen minutes later everyone was sitting down at the kitchen table with plates of hot food in front of them. Heather almost found it to be picturesque and was thankful for the opportunity to have everyone in one place. Heather wanted everyone's opinion on Victors proposal. "Alright since we're all here, I want every ones two cents on something Victor brought up."

Fred swallowed a mouthful of omlette. "Whats that?"

"Victor thinks that he can take on the whole GS-19 gang on their own turf. He won't go unless I say so, but I don't want to be the only one to make the decision, were all in this for better or worse so I just wanted to know what you all thought."

Fred dropped his fork "He wants to take on the whole gang? Wish mine were as brass as his."

Mira set down her glass of juice "That's suicide, they're stone cold killers!"

Victor added "So am I, though I assure you I am much better at it than they are."

Mira went on "What makes you think that you have the right to start a personal war?"

"They are gangers and a menace the civilization. They traffic drugs and weapons, they rob and steal, they murder and fight without regard for innocents, and they attacked Heather on her own property. If that is not enough cleanse them then tell me what is."

Brittney leaned back in her chair "I think he's right, the gang started this and there's nothing dirtier than a drive by shooting. Personally I think it's time to give them whats' for. My only concern is if the cops catch you."

"I will leave no trace, I know how to cover my tracks."

Cassey picked up her plate and got up to put it in the dishwasher "I think it's cool, he'd be like batman fighting crime and stuff."

"Batman?"

Katherine pushed aside her empty plate. "No, he wouldn't be like batman, batman didn't kill anyone."

Brittney responded "Something needs to be done! We can't live the rest of our lives in fear of these guys!"

Mira pushed her glasses back up her nose "You're talking about premeditated murder. There's a death penalty for that."

Victor turned to address her "You assume I will get caught, you are wrong."

"You're over-confidence will be the death of you."

"I am not over-confident, I have done this dozens of times before against cults wielding far worse things than a couple of solid slug auto rifles. I have spent too much time behind enemy lines to become careless or make stupid mistakes."

Fred finally added in his thoughts "Practical considerations aside, do you honestly think a private war is the right thing to do?"

Victor remained calm and responded rationally "Yes, this is no time to show weakness in the face of an organized crime ring that has already proved their intentions to kill us. The law enforcement is obviously in no position to contain them so I will put this ring to cleansing flame for them."

Katherine voiced her opinion "Ok, so even if you manage to kill everyone in the gang, another one will step right in and fill the void."

"I do not plan on just killing them, that would achieve nothing other than personal vengeance. No in order to eliminate the threat once and for all I must make an example of them."

Katherine looked appalled "And how are you going to do that?"

"It is best if you do not worry too much about that. Despite what you may think I am not an unnecessarily cruel person, but I cannot ignore this, they have forced my hand. I must send a message that they will be held accountable for their actions. If it is any consolation, I will try to keep bloodshed to a minimum."

Fred got up and scrapped what little food was left on his plate into the trash can "Do you really think that will work?"

Victor leaned forward and joined his hands on the table "One planet in the Kieldar system rebelled against the Imperium, they announced their rebellion but due to pressing matters elsewhere, namely the emergence of hive fleet Jorgemunder, it was some time before an Imperial response was made. By the time we had arrived the entire system had announced their new masters, chaos. We made war upon them and in one of the most brutal campaigns I have ever served in eventually managed to take the capital planet of the system. That still left eleven planets that resisted us and we had taken heavy casualties, it would take months to amass the manpower required to forcefully put the rest of the system into compliance. General Sturn, who was in overall command, made a hard decision in order to save millions of lives. We executed one fifth of the planets population to make examples of what happens when a populace fails in their duties to the Emperor. The rest of the system quickly surrendered to us without further bloodshed after hearing of what we did. So yes, Fred, I know it will work."

Freds mouth was wide open. "God in heaven, you just killed them all?"

"One fifth of the planets population, one hundred thirty five million rebels. We saved an estimated eight hundred ninety four million lives. The lesson behind this story is sometimes it is necessary to be hard and heartless in order to serve the greater good, and you must always think of the bigger picture."

Fred started to stammer "I…But…"

"As I said, I will try to keep bloodshed to a minimum. But I will also do what is necessary to ensure our safety. That was an excellent meal Cassey, I will take my leave to close these wounds."

Cassey was also speechless and said nothing as Victor got up and collected the materials he required.

Heather left the group to discuss what they had been told and followed Victor to the back yard. "Why are you doing it here?"

He sat down on the grass and opened Brittneys sewing kit. "Because I do not want to bleed all over the house after you did such a fine job cleaning up after i created such a bloody mess."

It took him a couple of minutes to put the thread through the needle, and then he held it over open flame to sterilize it. He inserted the marinating needle into his arm and asked Heather to hold up the jury rigged I.V. Heather winced as he peeled off the bandages and revealed the still open hole. "Your gonna do it without any pain meds?"

"Can't risk it, I need to be free of any influences for this."

Heather had to turn her head as he made the first stich. "Was it true what you told them about that rebellion in there?"

"Yes. Heather you have to understand that the Imperium cannot afford to let rebels like that just go. If one planet rebels then soon it will spread. Do you remember the heretics from the video."

"Ugh, I don't think I could forget."

Victor continued to sew as he spoke "Chaos is evil in its most basic form. It spreads like cancer and so we must treat is as such. Executing only one fifth of the population is much more merciful than what usually happens. The followers of chaos lose all their humanity when they turn their back on the Emperor, you have seen this. Tell me would you have let an entire planet of heretics like them live?"

Heather couldn't find an appropriate response to that. "Well, uh…I mean…"

"Exactly, subjugating the populace of a chaos infested planet is next to impossible. And usually the entire planet is razed and recolonized. So believe me when I tell you that only one fifth is the much more merciful than what I would have done. From what I understand the inquisition still considers that system a hot spot of chaos activity."

Heather chanced a peek at Victors self-surgery and immediately regretted it. "So explain to me the concept of chaos, you say it is evil, and I have seen just how bad it can be, but what is it?"

"Basically, it is a play on human emotions, greed, jealousy, vanity, blood lust, temptation of the flesh, illness, these are natural emotions that normally we can control. Do you know of the warp?"

"I heard you mention it a couple of times but nothing other than that."

"The warp has a dozen names, the empyrean sea, the immaterium, and so on. It is a boon and a curse. It is another dimension that the Imperium uses the quickly travel throughout the stars, without it even with faster than light travel, the Imperium would crumble. At the same time it is a constant source of trouble. Within it are unholy daemons and-"

Heather almost dropped the I.V. "Demons?"

Katherines voice called out from behind them "Demons? Oh this I gotta hear about."

Victor finished his last stich, he tied off the ends and cleaned off the blood that spilled out. "Yes young Katherine, Daemons. They are the threat from beyond. I should not even tell you about them."

"Why, because they don't exist?"

"Because they do exist and they can appear anywhere. That is why you must always be always be on the watch for the psyker, the psykers get their other worldy powers from the warp and act as a conduit between the two dimensions. Daemons use psykers as entrances into our universe, massive amounts of death follows."

"Bullshit."

"Excuse me?"

"I'm calling bullshit on demons, they aren't real."

"I really don't want to prove it to you that they are."

"Do you have proof?"

"Yes"

"What proof?"

"Video feed."

"From what?"

"My helmets battle camera."

"How do you watch it then?"

"On my cognitor, I keep backups of all my mission logs, Heather has seen one and asked me to turn it off ten minutes into it."

Katherine shot an eye to Heather "Is that true?"

Heather folded her hands over her stomach "Yeah, it was so bloody I couldn't watch any more."

Victor turned with his back towards Heather "Heather, if you wouldn't mind doing the back."

Heather grimaced as she peeled back the bandages. "Ew ew ew ew ew."

"Oh don't be such a baby." Victor remarked.

"So I wanna see this video of demons." Katherine said as she held the I.V. that Heather told her to hold.

"No you don't."

"Why, because I've seen enough horror films to know fakes when I see them?"

Heather held the needle to the edge of the wound. "Uh, how do I do this?"

"Just as you would sew any torn garb. And no Katherine, for your own sake. I still have nightmares about them."

"Whatever, they aren't real."

Under Victors instructions, Heather sewed the wound together. When she finished she tied it off like she had seen Victor do in the front. "That was so gross I never wanna do it again."

Victor stood up "Oh it wasn't that bad."

"How do you did you do it without pain meds?" Katherine Inquired.

"I've suffered worse, and Heather has a gentile touch. Two days time and I will be good as new"

Criticism grammer


End file.
